


Handplates F-3

by MotherOftheUniverse



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Adorable Papyrus (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Handplates (Undertale), Artificial Creation, Child Abuse, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus (Undertale), Female Frisk (Undertale), Gen, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV W. D. Gaster, Pre-Undertale, Protective Frisk, Protective Sans (Undertale), Protective Siblings, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Frisk (Undertale), Zarla, gaster doesn't like humans, handplates by zarla, homunculus frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherOftheUniverse/pseuds/MotherOftheUniverse
Summary: Based on Handplates by Zarla on Devientart. Also posted on FF.netWhat would happen if Frisk where also a creation of Gaster?They where just things. They were not supposed to be sentient. They weren't supposed to be kind, or care for eachother. Especially not the human. But they where. They loved eachother, cared for eachother, and so badly wanted the pain to stop. And he wanted to stop hurting them, sometimes. But he would continue to do what was necessary.Even though 1-S made him proud so many timesEven though 2-P never stoped believing in himEven though 3-F somehow wormed her way into his heart, despite being human.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Handplates](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/495481) by Zarla. 



> Hello! This is my first Fic on AO3, so I will be unfamiliar with the website and it's functioning for a little bit. When the unfamiliarity wears off, though, things should be fine. This fic is an AU based on Handplates, by Zarla on Devientart. I recommend you check out the original work, if you haven't already. It's actually what got me into Undertale. 
> 
> See, I had the basic knowledge of the story through pictures, some crossover stories, and fansongs, since I'm pretty into Indie Games as a whole, but I didn't really KNOW Undertale until I found Handplates while browsing through Devientart. And I read a good chunk of the comics, then I watched TheArtfulDodger's livestreams of Undertale, and I was just fucking hooked on the damn game. God, I love it so much. And Handplates got me into it. 
> 
> So, it makes sense that I would write an AU. 
> 
> I will say, I'm not the first one who had this idea. A person on Devientart (who's name I can't remember) wrote a story where Frisk accidentally resets a little too far back and ends up entering the underground before she was supposed to. Gaster kidnapped her and tried to get some experimentation out of her. Of course, this AU differs in that here, Frisk was created by Gaster. 
> 
> Now, if you've read handplates, you'll know a big part of this story is Gaster experimenting on children. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't read. Or do read, depending on how much discomfort you can tolerate having. 
> 
> And without further ado, on with the show!

_I was able to make two “SOULs” from my own essence. I shouldn’t be surprised that I was able to create another one from DT, and the blueprints I have traced from the Green SOUL. The SOUL I created is Human, instead of Monster, like the other two. This should be of benefit to me. Nothing can possibly make me feel sympathy towards a human, if the beings I create turn out to even be sentient at all._

_There is one thing that worries me, however. DETERMINATION is a human’s ability to persist after death. Even more so, if the TRAIT a Human is made from is DETERMINATION, they may be able to connect to FUN, a system which nature even I am unsure of. This can be dangerous. There are rumors that SOULS with enough DETERMINATION have the power to manipulate time. Of course, this may be nothing more than superstition._

_The point is; The main TRAIT of the Green SOUL is KINDNESS. Not a false statement, as the being it belonged to was surprisingly friendly for a human. So much so, I almost pitied them. However, because of the DT I added to the SOUL’s copy, the main trait of my third creation is no longer KINDNESS, but DETERMINATION instead. While the emotional benefits of this change in TRAIT are high, DETERMINATION is not a trait I was hoping I’d have to face. If the rumors are true, though that is a big IF, then this thing I create may prove to be hard to control._

~~

Three suspension tubes hosted three unconscious individuals. The first tube held a small skeleton, with a round head, and a permanent smile built into his bones. There wasn’t much that could be told about him, not yet. He was male, and had a dangerously low amount of HP, though Dr. Gaster was hoping he could fix this problem before releasing his specimens from the suspension tubes. His stats where also low, and the description of “Kinda Tired” provided to him did nothing to improve Gasters confidence in the survival of the thing, though he would try to keep it alive. 

The second tube also hosted a skeleton, though he was taller than his neighbor. His stats where average, as was his health, thank god, though his description concerned Gaster. It read “Wishing for Warmth”. The suspension chambers weren’t exactly cold, which lead the scientist to believe that the “warmth” this skeleton was wishing for wasn’t temperature related, but more on an emotional standpoint. This scared him slightly. Even if they where sentient, if the specimens held no emotion, things would be easier. But this thing in the second suspension chamber hadn’t even fully developed yet, and it wasalready starting to show signs of emotional capability.

The third and final tube held something unlike the previous ones. Instead of a skeleton, it hosted a human female, around the size of the first skeleton, with brown hair growing off the top of her head. Or, at least it looked human. Humans where born from two individuals who had engaged in a somewhat strange activity known as “sex”. It was their way of reproducing, apparently, though Gaster hadn’t been bothered to learn how it worked. All he knew was that skeletons did not reproduce that way, nor did many other fellow Monsters. 

But this human was created by mixing DT extraction with the clone of a SOUL, and grown in a suspension tube instead of the womb of a mother. Even her stats weren’t sure if she was human or not, reading “human or monster?”. Gaster supposed that the proper word for this creature would be “homunculus”. After all, she was made from the soul of a dead human. Gaster let himself smirk, knowing that Alphys would be ecstatic to learn of the possibility that homunculi could exist. Her favorite character from one of her favorite anime’s was a homunculus apparently. Gaster had yet to watch that particular one, and he wasn’t planning to anyways. He had gotten the idea of creating a homunculus from a history book, not an anime anyways. He didn’t need Alphys to think otherwise; he wouldn’t hear the end of it. 

Suddenly, he heard a small bang on the glass of the suspension tube. He almost spat out his coffee, but was relieved to see that it was just the first skeleton experiencing a brief period of consciousness, as had all three of his specimens in the past. This time, though, he seemed to take notice of the two creatures next to him, also in tubes. 

His attention to them caused both to also experience conciseness. 

Gaster quirked an eyebrow at this, but continued to observe in silence. All three of the specimens stared at eachother, at a loss for what to do. The human’s eyes opened up, only slightly, but still enough for Gaster to notice the multi-colored iris. They all seemed to sense eachother. The small glowing orbs in the sockets of the first skeleton narrowed slightly. It seemed he was suspicious of those around him, though he didn’t seem to hold any hostile intent, yet. The second one seemed much more trusting of the two things next to him. His jaw moved in a way that was mimicking a smile. The human tilted her head slightly, eyeing the two creatures. No suspicion. No excitement. Just curiosity. Gaster noticed that all three of their descriptions in their stats had changed to mimic their feelings. They read “Know’s something’s near” “Notices it’s kin”, and “Can feel others,” respectively. This gave Gaster a foreshadowing of their personalities.

Without warning, however, all three specimens started to glow. The white orbs in the first one’s eyes turned a light blue color, that was brighter than it’s initial white orbs. The edges of the second ones oval sockets glowed a warm orange in response. A red light shown through the humans iris’s, like a flashlight. Gaster sipped his coffee, watching the three specimens interact. They where communicating. 

_Chance of sentience: 87%_

~~

Gaster took the smallest skeleton out of suspension first, knowing he couldn’t be careless. He was in full concentration mode. All three of the specimens where unconscious. He used is Magic hands to unhook the small boy from the wires, one at a time, in order to ensure stabilization. He increased the dosage in healing magic in the main tube that was attached to the skeleton’s soul, similar to the umbilical cord of a human. This tube he would take off last. After ensuring that there was no damage to the body, he began to drain the liquid out of the suspension tube. He took it slow and steady, occasionally increasing the healing magic as necessary. Over exposer to magic of any kind, even if it was benevolent, could be dangerous, and Gaster preferred all three specimens alive. This would be difficult, considering the small one’s HP seemed to stubbornly refuse to raise higher than 1. 

Once the liquid was drained and the glass was removed, Gaster carefully detached the tube from the youngest one’s soul, and placed it into a hospital bed, hooking it to an IV cord. He did the same for the second skeleton, with the removal process being much faster due it’s higher endurance, and having already done the process once. 

He was a little more careless with the human however. One look at her body reminded Gaster of the species he despised so much, and he felt unwilling to put in the proper effort to ensure a comfortable removal. Besides, she had an HP of 20, and a human body was capable of enduring even the most horrible of injuries and surviving. She wouldn’t die. 

When he took her out of suspension, he ended up causing several small blibbits of blood to pour from her body, due to pulling the wires out somewhat aggressively. He drained the chamber of liquid, watching the humans stats to make sure she didn’t die. She was currently at 10/20, though he didn’t much care. He could give her some healing food later, and it’d be as if nothing would’ve happened. Any mark the damage left on her body would be superficial. As long as her soul stayed in tact, fixing the body would only require the bare minimum amount of healing magic. She’d be fine. 

By the time he took her out of the suspension tube and hooked her to the IV, her HP read 4/20. As the healing magic inside the IV took it’s course, Gaster realized that he may have been a bit too rough on that particular specimen. Thinking of her as human made him despise her, but she was still his creation, like the two skeletons in the beds next to her. He couldn’t be careless with her. She had to live long enough to serve his purposes. Besides, she wasn’t exactly _human_ human anyways. She looked like one, and her soul resembled one. She was a homunculus, and thinking of her in those terms allowed Gaster to keep a cool head on his shoulders. Here he had been worried about growing attached to these things, but he had never considered the negative impact of him despising the specimens either. She was built so that Gaster could further Monsterkind, not as a living punching bag for him to take out petty revenge on. 

As soon as the three of them where stabilized and somewhat conscious, he dressed them in all in pale green hospital gowns, and placed them each in separate cells. He didn’t know of their intentions, so he couldn’t risk placing them around eachother. Not yet, anyways. He’d wait. See what they where capable of, and how they would act around eachother. He couldn’t make unnecessary risk. 

Gaster eyed the three of them on video camera’s in their rooms. They where awake, though they seemed to be in a daydream-like state. Their eyes where glowing; one blue, one orange, one red. They where all silent and still, breathing quietly. 

This was going to be a strange journey. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few hours since removing the subjects from their suspension tubes, and Gaster is ready to make observations. The two skeleton's and the human seem to be quite active for those who where just born.

Entry number #&@&$%#~Y&

_As expected, the human-like creature was the first to fully awaken. Her body is the strongest, after all. She seems nervous, but curious. She had touched everything in the room, running her fingers across the cracks in the tiles, and tapping each part of the wall, listening to the sounds that each tap makes. She even touched the beams that keep her cell close, and while they do not cause a loss in HP, due to safety reasons, the electric shock they administer when touched was enough to keep her from touching them again. Her particular favorite item is the pillow and blanket I’ve provided her, though I’m not surprised. She hugged the pillow, and now it seems she won’t let go. She is shivering. I’ll have to keep that in mind. Creatures with skin and blood, human or monster, are naturally more effected by temperature than skeleton’s are. I may have to give her a robe in addition to her hospital gown._

_I decided to pay her a visit, to observe her myself._

_She’s curious about me, as she is with everything. She is currently reaching through the bars of her cell. I think she’s trying to touch me. She seems disappointed that she can’t reach, but is soon enough distracted by the smell of my coffee. A contrast to the smell of cold air and bleach. She is grasping the air. Maybe she is trying to touch the smell. When she finds that she cannot touch anything, she then reaches for me again. Curious as to what she will do, I hand her a lint ball from the pocket of my coat. It’s better than nothing. She is about to take it, but hesitates. Maybe she is weary?_

_No. She’s staring at the injuries in my hands. And she’s crying. It’s silent, thank god, except for an occasional sniffle, though tears are pouring from her eyes in large amounts. She points to her palm and makes an odd noise. Sort of like a whimper. I’m not sure how, but it seems as if she_ knows _that these are injuries, and that she_ knows _they hurt. Keen insight. It may be an effect of her DETERMINATION. I pocket the lint ball. Clearly she doesn’t want it. I leave to go back to the camera feed._

_I’ve checked on the human again. It appears she’s still crying._

_~_

_It’s been 6 hours since I removed them from the M-D solution. They are clumsy and fearful. They stumble and trip like child-_

_As expected, little experience in non-suspension has lead to a difficult adjustment period, particularly regarding ambulatory motion. It will come in time, I’m sure. They are currently separated, as the nature of their interest in eachother is unclear at this point. I will investigate this more carefully at a later date after they’ve mastered movement. The skeletons, at least, do not appear to understand me or be capable of speech. The human hasn’t spoken, but her strange crying indicates that she is sentient/capable of emotions. I cannot say the same for the skeletons, however. It will be easier if they are not._

_It does not matter either way. The line was crossed long ago. There is no turning back now…_

Gaster was interrupted from his writings when he heard a loud and violent scream coming from the cell where he had placed the larger of the two skeletons. Somewhat annoyed, Gaster marched down the hall, armed with bones just in case. “What’s with all the ruckus” he grumbled to himself. 

He finally arrived at the cell in mention, where the skeleton was sitting on the ground, staring at his arm, which had detached itself somehow. Gaster let out a huff of frustration. “Limb detachment is entirely normal and completely painless for a skeleton,” He grumbled angrily, letting himself into the young monsters cell, grabbing the detached arm, and attempting to put it back, while the skeleton tried to kick him away. 

“Stay still,” Gaster demanded, as the boy backed up to the wall of his room, still continuing to scream bloody murder. “Do you even understand me!?” Gaster snapped in frustration. This was his first interaction with the taller skeleton and already the thing had managed to get on his nerves. Not even the human had managed to do that. “Just stay still!” 

The thing continued to scream and cry, his voice loud enough to be heard in the next cell over. If Gaster listened hard enough, he could’ve sworn that he heard one of the other specimens start to cry as well, getting scared by the constant screaming. Gaster’s headache only seemed to grow. 

“I SAID STAY STILL!!” He shouted, and in a burst of anger, he turned the skeleton’s soul Blue, and slammed him against the wall. The cry’s turned into frightened whimpers. 

Gaster held the detached limb up to it’s spot so it could re-connect. “With the right distance and the proper will…” He muttered, before letting go of the arm, which was now safely attached where it was supposed to be. “There, utterly normal and completely painless. Undeserving of such a fuss—”

Gaster was caught off-guard when the skeleton suddenly jumped at him, wrapping his arms tightly around Gaster’s torso like a hug, and nuzzling his face into the scientist clothes. A strange sensation; something that felt like a warm heart attack, spread throughout Gaster’s entire body. He roughly pushed the young skeleton off of him, and exited the cell. 

~~

_Seven hours since removal. The little— smaller skeleton is awake. I’m surprised both that he’s survived outside at all, given his frailty, and that he’s woken up again so quickly. He may be hardier than I initially thought, which is promising. I went to observe him in person. A transcript of my notes follows:_

_I am keeping my distance at first. He is poking and prodding at the walls and the floor, though he does not come near the forcefield, unlike the human. He may sense the aura it gives off. His behavior is similar to that of the human, though it seems he has an ulterior motive than just plain curiosity. I get the impression he is trying to find a way out. Perhaps he wants to go back to the suspension?_

_He has yet to make any sound. It’s preferable to the other skeleton’s constant whining. Even the human’s silent crying has proven to be… annoying. He may not be capable of sound, or he may just be too focused on his exploration. I’ve come closer, and he’s caught sight of me. He’s wary and suspicious, though still silent. So he’s more perceptive than the other two specimens, at least._

_I’ve taken another step closer. His eyes flared a deep purple color, interlaced with blue, and he backed up against the wall. Another step closer, his eyes are glowing brighter. I can sense magic gathering within his soul, but he’s too young— new to know how to make it manifest into an attack. If he could open his mouth, I’m sure he’d snap at me. You can’t use magic to defend yourself yet, as much as you try. I wonder what you’ll do if I keep approaching?_

_Closer still. He is getting quite frantic._

_He’s rattling his bones at me!_

The small skeleton continued to rattle his bones, the “klak-a-lak” sound echoing throughout his cell. He kept rattling, until he fell down, dizzy. Gaster let out a soft laugh in amusement. 

_At that point I decided to leave him be to attend to other matters._

_The two skeletons differ strikingly in temperament. One docile, one hostile. I cannot quite get a read on the that of the human’s, however. She seems curious, but that is the extent of her currently known nature. Her crying leads me to believe she, like the taller skeleton, is also more docile, though it’s possible she may be afraid. Either way, she is likely going to hold some moderation of both the other specimens nature. Wether or not this will make things easier or harder, I will have to see._

~~

For the next week, Gaster helped teach the three specimens simple things. He had given all three of them numbers, in order to find something to call them. The smaller skeleton he labeled WDG 1-S, as he was the first he had taken out of the suspension tube, and therefore technically the oldest of the three specimens. The taller skeleton was WDG 2-P, while the human was WDG 3-F. It made it easier for him to reference the three instead of calling them “taller skeleton, smaller skeleton, and human”. 

2-P mastered walking pretty easily. He was enthusiastic to try things, and wanted to work hard. His stats now read “wants to do a good job”. Gaster did as any would do when teaching things, give praise and encouragement as a reward for good and positive behavior, while harsh words and disappointment was good for failure. 2-P mastered walking with little effort. It showed hope for it’s ability to do things. 

1-S had a much harder time walking. His stats still read “Kinda Tired”, which reflected in his energy level. Even the simplest of motions seemed to exhaust him. He would walk a slight bit, only to fall over and fall asleep. Gaster had to catch him often. He once was going to try to carry 1-S back to his cell, but had that feeling again; the warm heart attack. So he instead carried the little skeleton using blue magic. 

The human, 3-F, was another matter entirely. Her bones seemed to understand the basic walking skills, though her muscles and fleshy substances on her body hindered the process. She had much more physical attributes to work on when it came to walking. However, when she did finally manage to stumble across the room and into the outstretched arms Gaster had waiting for her, she had offered him a bright smile, her multi-colored eyes practically glowing with pride and excitement. 

He did not expect to feel the warm heart attack for the human…

~~

“What is it?!” Gaster snapped, “you’ve been crying for hours!” 

It had been 18 hours since the three specimens had been let out of suspension, and 2-P was throwing a tantrum again, like he had done over his limb detachment. This time, however, all limbs where attached, and he had absolutely no reason to be crying like that. 

All three specimens had been upset. While neither 1-S nor 3-F where screaming as loudly as 2-P (thank god), they had been sure to express their discomfort when they had walked by. 

Gaster checked over 2-P one more time, just in case he missed something. Harshly grabbing the young skeleton’s jaw, he angrily muttered, “There’s nothing wrong with you. You haven’t hurt yourself that I can tell, I don’t understand why—” Gaster was interrupted when 2-P placed Gasters hand in his mouth and started to naw at it. “Your _hungry_ , of course!” Gaster breathed out in realization, irritated that he hadn’t figured it out sooner. “You need to _eat_ now that you’re outside the suspension. I can’t believe I forgot!” 

Gaster grabbed a chocolate bar from the fridge, handing a slice to the hungry specimen. “I was saving this for dinner, but it’ll have to do for now until I can find something more substantial,” Gaster hummed. The young skeleton stared at the chocolate piece, unsure what to do. “Look it’s safe to eat, see?” Gaster said, taking a bite of it himself to show the little one how to do it. “I should check on the others. If you’re hungry, they must be as well,” 

The human was pretty easy to feed, as to be expected. Though, she had now a new sense to add to her innovatory; taste. And now she was trying to lick all the things she had previously touched, smelled, and listened to. Gaster let out a groan as he watched her lick the wall to her cell, then put her blanket into her mouth and start to suck on it. Things made from flesh could get sick that way! He’d have to keep an eye on her health. He hoped that her licking things would just be a faze. 

1-S was having trouble eating, since he couldn’t open his mouth. “Use magic to eat it, here, watch me,” Gaster instructed, teaching the young thing how to transfer monster food from the open space to inside himself. The skeleton picked up pretty quickly after a few tries. 

~~

As Gaster walked by 2-P’s cell, he was suddenly hit with some form of projectile. One look at the missing limb and the smug look on his face told Gaster that the skeleton had just thrown his arm at him. 

“Fine,” Gaster snapped, shaking the detached limb in 2-P’s face. “If you don’t want it then I’m just going to keep it until you learn to behave yourself,” 

After an hour of listening to the young skeleton whine, he gave the arm back to spare himself the headache. 

~~

A large blanket in hand, Gaster approached each of the specimens cells, planing to test out a method of inelegance testing he had read in a science book. He would throw the blanket over their heads, and see how long it would take them to get out. 

He placed the blanket over 3-F. She touched it, sniffed it, and wrapped it around her body like a cocoon, before putting a decent chunk of it into her mouth and sucking on it. Gaster wasn’t sure why he expected much else.

2-P made some questioning noises when the blanket was placed over him, but he soon started enjoying it, making noises that where similar to roars, as if he where pretending to be some sortof blanket creature. 

1-S sat with the blanket over his head for several seconds before falling over, asleep. 

Needless to say, Gaster was disappointed in all three of them. 

~~

_An unexpected development: I left the three of them within earshot of one another while I was clearing out one of the work rooms for future use. It didn’t take them long to realize the others where nearby. Perhaps a side-effect of the nature of their SOULs._

“UUUUUWAAAAA!” 2-P cheerfully called out to the others. 1-S mumbled loudly back in response, excited to hear 2-P make his noise again. After a few moments, 3-F eventually joined in, making raspberry noises, causing the other two to make sounds similar to laughing. 

_They made meaningless animal noises at eachother. (Subject 1 IS capable of it after all). Nothing unusual or noteworthy, but then…_

_They began to babble._

“amuh da, no no, daba dah!” 

“DISPABEH” 

“Spespuh nao!” 

_I could recognize the noises they were stringing together. Bits and pieces of things I’d said to them. They even mimicked my tone of voice, though clearly without understanding. They can speak! They can learn! They are sentient after all._

_I don’t know how I feel about this. I specifically accelerated their growth because I didn’t want them to look like children, I don’t want them to SOUND like children!_

_It’s… unnecessary._

1-S threw his hands up in big gestures, each three voice getting increasingly more excited. The human even said a real word. (“lick”, of course…) 

_The rapid growth may apply to their minds as well… If they can progress to an adult level of understanding, at least then…_

_I will introduce all three of them to eachother tomorrow with the proper precautions in place. This wasn’t in my plans, but one must always be ready to improvise. We’ll see what happens._

“Frisk!” The human suddenly shouted. Gaster shook slightly. It almost sounded as if she had given herself a name. “Frisk! Frisk! Frisk! Frisk! Frisk!” She shouted to them, over and over, and the two skeletons started to yell “Frisk” back to her. Gaster shuttered, a chill running down his spine. She was WDG 3-F. She was a homunculus; a thing! 

Things couldn’t have names. 

He didn’t write that part down. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The subjects all meet eachother for the first time. Prepare for misadventures!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Hi, I'm back. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Handplates belongs to Zarla

_This is it. All three subjects are going to meet. I’m keeping a tight hold on both their souls, so if they fall to fighting, it should be a matter of moments to separate them before any of them is hurt. It’s best to be prepared. I’m not entirely sure what to expect._

2-P looked into the room where he saw 1-S hiding behind a desk. 3-F was in the next room over, and he planned to introduce her to the two skeletons as soon as they accumulated to eachother. 

2-P grabbed Gaster by the coat and hid behind him, whimpering in fear. Gaster flinched, pushing the needy skeleton away from himself, snapping at him not to touch. 

“DUN TASH ME!” The little skeleton mimicked his words, causing Gaster another one of those warm heart attacks. 

2-P slowly approached the other skeleton, unsure what to make of him. 1-S continued to hide, unsure if this new being would attack him or not. 

_They’ve seen eachother… they seem at a loss for what to do. Subject 1 seems wary. Subject 2’s eyes have began to glow a warm red-orange color. Subject 1 soon began glowing light blue in response. This seems to have calmed them a little. They are approaching eachother…_

2-P reached out… and stuck his hand right through 1-S’s eye socket. Gaster suppressed a laugh at this odd interaction as the two of them began to touch eachother, curious as to what the other was. He quickly fetched the human. 

_I have grabbed the human, and am planning to introduce her now. I found her touching, smelling, listening to, and licking all the items in the room I left her in. Of corse._

_I have now guided her into the room. The other two subjects have taken notice of her. Subject 2 attempts to approach her, but Subject 1 stops him. They’ve seen eachother for barely a few seconds and he already seems to be protective of 2-P._

_Subject 3 continues to approach, slowly, her hands out in front of her. She babbles a greeting to them, and her eyes start to glow. This seems to allow them to trust her. Subject 2 begins to run over to her again, and Subject 1 lets him this time, approaching himself, albeit more slowly and cautiously than his fellow skeleton._

_They have made contact. She is intent on touching every part of them, as she is with everything. The two skeletons are currently playing with her skin, seemingly amused by her squishy bits. She seems not to mind the invasive contact. She is feeling them, and they are feeling her. A mutual thing, I guess. They are curious about one another. They are the first living things they’ve seen aside from myself after all._

Gaster stopped writing, simply observing. They felt each others jaws, taking a peculiar curiosity in the fact that 3-F had a tongue and they didn’t. The three of them picked eachother up, placed their hands through different holes, felt each others faces, lifted their arms, and much more. The human found herself amused by the sounds knocking on the two skeleton’s rib cage made, while the others where particularly fascinated by her squishy skin and muscles. 2-P crouched down to try to match the hight of both his fellow subjects, as they where both smaller than him. Unsurprisingly, 3-F reached over, and licked 2-P’s face. He seemed to get rather flustered by this action. At least his reaction kept her from licking either of them again.

They started to speak to eachother, and told eachother things they knew. 2-P explained to his companions that the thing branching out of their shoulders where called arms, and the thing at the end of it was a hand. 

_They are very eager and quick to learn. Already their level of speech has advanced at an astonishing rate just by speaking to eachother. As one learns something new, so the other builds off of what they learned to new heights. A mutual scaffolding._

2-P accidentally pulled 1-S’s arm off, causing both 1-S and 3-F to freak out. 

“SHHH!” 2-P quickly silenced the two of them “NO CRY!” He then placed the arm back, much to the relief of 1-S and 3-F. “SEE? ONE OKAY. ONE NO-MAL,” He hummed to them. 

3-F pulled on her own arm. “Won’t off?” She told the two of them, confused. 

1-S started to shake, rattling his bones. 2-P did the same, while 3-F watched in envy, finding herself unable to do the same action. The two skeletons looked at eachother, then at 3-F, understanding that even as they where different from eachother, she was more different then either of them. They seemed slightly saddened that 3-F couldn’t rattle her bones. So she did something else, that only she could do, since the other two lacked the necessary appendages. 

She blew a raspberry. 

And it continued like this for a while, the two skeleton’s rattling their bones while the human blew raspberry’s. They all seemed pleased with their actions. 

They stopped when 2-P began to reach out for the two of them. He hesitated when they gave him a questioning look. 

Suddenly, 2-P pulled the two of them into a tight embrace. After some hesitation, both the skeleton and the human hugged back. They held onto eachother tightly, as if they where afraid letting go would mean that their new companions would fade away. They all nuzzled into eachother, trying to get as close as space would allow. 2-P buried his face into the top of 3-F’s hair, finding the tuff of string-like fluff a comfortable thing to hide himself in. They all closed their eyes, but the bright green light that escaped from the skeleton’s eyelids was unmistakable. The human was also glowing, although her glow seemed to never be any color besides red. Gaster assumed that it may have been because of her soul. Frankly, considering human bodies, he was surprised that she would even glow at all; it was more of a skeleton thing, after all. 

_They are getting attached to eachother very quickly. If I want the three to mature rapidly, leaving them together seems the most obvious choice. At the same time, emotional bonds like this carry their own risk._

“Alright, that’s enough” Gaster commanded, demanding the three separate. They looked disappointed and sad. The human even sniffled slightly. But they obeyed the command. 

_On the other hand, perhaps those bonds can be exploited later, should the need arise._

~~

The human and the two skeletons bonded rather quickly. He still didn’t let them room together, worried that the two heartier subjects may hurt 1-S by accident. He always kept them within his sights, whenever they where together, just in case. 

3-F had stopped licking things after her small incident with 2-P, which was a relief to Gaster. He was afraid her tendency would get her sick. She still felt the need to suck on things, though, with blankets and her own gown being first choice. After an unfortunate incident of all three subjects freaking out when 3-F lifted her gown a little too high for comfort, Gaster had given her a pair of shorts to wear under the gown to avoid awkward questions that he seriously didn’t feel like answering. 

She wasn’t the only subject that wanted to put her mouth on everything. 2-P was biting everything. Gaster couldn’t be sure if he picked up the habit from 3-F or if he would’ve done so without her, but either way, he found it annoying. While he wouldn’t get sick from germs on the objects like the human would, some of the things Gaster caught him chewing on where important to his work! 

At least 1-S couldn’t bite things with the way his face was constructed. 

The difference between the skeletons and the human where noticed often. One time, 1-S had refused to let 3-F play with them, telling her “skele’s only!” 3-F had promptly burst into tears, insisting that she was a skeleton too, and wouldn’t stop crying even after 1-S apologized. She finally calmed down when both the skeletons hugged her. 1-S never did that again. 

While 2-P and 3-F where blissfully unaware, 1-S had taken notice of Gaster's behavior towards the human. He more cold to her than he was to them (and that was saying something), and also snapped at her more often. He called her “human”. 1-S didn’t have the speech abilities to ask Gaster why he seemed to like 3-F less than he did the two of them, but the question still lingered in his mind. 

3-F hadn’t referred to herself as Frisk since the day the three specimens first spoke to eachother. It was as if she had forgotten this word all together, which Gaster was grateful for. 2-P had taken to calling her “HUMAN”, much like Gaster called her. She seemed to take no offense with the nickname, at least not when 2-P said it. He didn’t miss how she recoiled as if snapped at whenever Gaster himself where to call her “human”. She must be aware that Gaster meant it as something of an insult, while 2-P didn’t. 

~

The three of them where playing hand games together, while speaking a kind of gibberish that only the three of them seemed to understand. Gaster was working on papers at his desk, coffee cup right next to him. 

“dada!” He suddenly heard 1-S shout, and the other two subjects where quick to copy the word. 

Gaster felt the warm heart attack, stronger this time. So much so, that he nearly spasmed, knocking over his coffee cup and pushing multiple papers off the table. The three looked over at him, curious as to his reaction. 

_It’s just a coincidence_ … Gaster told himself, unwilling to believe otherwise. 

~~

Gaster slaved over some paperwork, while the three subjects watched him. Much to his ignorance, they where copying his movements. 

“I don’t understand, what I am missing?!” Gaster snapped, throwing his hand in a frustrated gesture. “Everything else is adding up, there’s no reason this shouldn’t lead to the correct sum! Unless one of my suppositions is incorrect?” 

He clenched his fist in triumph. “Aha! I should’ve guessed, I knew it! Of course it wouldn’t count the alternating values! Yes, finally! I KNEW there was a way to get this to resolve! I am a GENIUS!” 

The three mimicked the excited clenching of fist. “Yes!!” They all shouted out. 

~~

The three of them where touching eachother again. This time they where comparing their bellies. 1-S’s clothing bulged as if there where a large tummy underneath, despite there being nothing more but bone. They noticed that 3-F had a bit of a tummy, though smaller than 1-S’s, but it was explainable by the actual tummy, made from flesh, underneath her gown. Curious, 2-P turned to Gaster. 

“Why?” He asked. 

Gaster shrugged. “Why not?” 

~~

Gaster regretted giving the three of them chocolate. They somehow got it melty all over their fingers and faces. He took a soapy rag and tried to wipe it off, starting with 2-P, who was struggling, disliking the feeling of the cloth roughly rubbing his face. 

So he bit down on the rag (and Gaster’s hand) when it got close enough to his mouth. He started to gawk and sputter, upset with the odd and terrible taste of soap. 1-S laughed at his misery. 

“You see, that’s what you get, I told you not to bite,” Gaster scolded, only to find his washcloth swiped from him. He glanced over to see it handing out of the mouth of one 3-F. Of course, 2-P got to taste the rag, so it was only fair that she got to taste it. The look on her face told the skeleton’s that she had instantly regretted her decision. 

~~

Seeing as scrubbing them with a washcloth was rather difficult, Gaster had elected to give the subjects a bath this time. He undressed them, though kept the humans pants on, (again, wanting to avoid awkward questions), and filled the tub. The three explored the new thing in front of them as Gaster prepared the soap. 

“WHA IS?” 2-P asked curiously. They didn’t trust the clear liquid, evident by 1-S quickly pulling 3-F’s hands away from the unknown substance when she tried to touch it. 

“It’s water,” Gaster replied, casually. 

“wa-der” 1-S repeated. 

Deeming it safe, he finally allowed the human to touch it. 3-F gasped a bit as the water moved, rippling from the place she touched it. Everything she had been in contact with thus far had been solid. She had never tried to touch something that would just fall away from her hands. 

“WATER! WATER!” 2-P chanted excitedly, touching it as well. 

“wobbly water” 1-S added, not touching it himself, but observing it’s moments as the other two splashed their hands in the substance. 

Gaster dropped all three of them into the tub with blue magic. 

The three of them coughed and sputtered a bit, unsure what to do, but they soon found themselves enjoying the warm and splashy water. 3-F in particular enjoyed the feeling of water on her skin. As expected, she put some in her mouth. She had drank water before, albeit from a container, and she recognized the taste. She was about to swallow it down, feeling the consumptionable abilities, but 1-S stopped her, shaking his head. She promptly spat it out, the liquid flying out of her mouth like a fountain, causing 2-P to giggle. 

They started to splash around as Gaster tried to scrub them. He scrubbed shampoo into the human’s hair, catching the interest of her companions. After scrubbing his fingers through her hair, both 1-S and 2-P where quick to mimic the movement, and 3-F was more than happy to let them dote on her. 

Gaster grabbed 2-P and started to scrub him, while the skeleton in question began to squirm, unhappy with this new development. “Stop squirming, it’ll only make it take longer!” He snapped. Soon enough, the young skeleton obeyed. “There, you see. It’s much easier when you’re not moving around so much!” 

2-P relaxed, melting into the man behind him. Gaster flinched at the contact, and pushed the touchy skeleton off of himself. 

2-P watched Gaster walk away, and for a second, his companions where sure he was going to cry. He looked at them with watery eyes, so the two other specimens scooted closer, allowing 2-P to hug them. They wrapped their arms around the little boy in return, all three enjoying the hug. 

Gaster later took them out of the bath and dried the three off with a knobby towel, and he gave 3-F a dry pair of shorts. As expected, she put the towel in her mouth. 

~~

1-S was crying. Gaster had snapped at him slightly when the little skeleton had tried to grab his hand, wanting to show him something. Tears where the last thing he expected from the normally emotionally stable skeleton. The solution was simple, however. He just needed to grab 2-P, and the little boy would take care of the issue rather quickly. He wondered if the same would work on 3-F, though she only ever cried if 1-S was mean to her, which rarely happened, and when it did, it was usually on accident. The only time she ever cried because of him was their strange first interaction. 

He later had a chance to test his theory out when 1-S had grabbed an item he had considered “his” away from her, growling at her for her actions. He apologized immediately, but when she wouldn’t stop crying, Gaster simply grabbed 2-P and he cheered her up almost instantly. 

~~

The three of them liked to be around eachother as often as possible, which meant that Gaster had to also be with them as often as possible, at least until the three understood 1-S’s condition. Of course, being around them constantly did have it’s downsides. 

“SHIT!” Gaster shouted out as a device he’d been trying to fix zapped him. The three immediately latched onto the word, and started chanting it themselves. They only shouted the word louder when Gaster tried to get them to stop. “Oh, NOW you’re listening!” Gaster snapped. 

The three subjects just kept on chanting. 

~~

Gaster had placed a box in the middle of the room when clearing out one of the storage facilities. When he came back to the box, he saw 1-S tucked inside it, rattling his bones at him. He dumped the young skeleton out of the box and into the arms of his awaiting companions. 

Later, the three where playing together, and where beginning to roughhouse. “You three, settle down, you’re getting to excited and one of you is going to—” He was interrupted by 1-S crying loudly. “Alright, that’s enough,” Gaster snapped, dragging 2-P and 3-F away from him. “I told you both to calm down,” he scolded the two of them. “You’re being to rough, and subject 1 is very delicate,” 

“I WUZN,” 2-P argued. 

“You where,” Gaster quipped back. 

“WUZN, JUS PLAYIN,” 

“You shush,” Gaster demanded. Using his blue magic, he forced both 2-P and 3-F to sit down at the desk he was working at. “I told you three not to distract me, so now you’re just going to sit here and do nothing until everyone’s calmed down,” 

The human and taller skeleton looked at eachother, saddened. 1-S had calmed down and was playing with a ball. The two gazed jealously, and started to whine. 

“Shh!” Gaster demanded again. 

~~

Time passed, and the three subjects continued to learn and grow. They had learned that the thing they did with their bones was called “rattling”, and that the reason the human couldn’t do it was because she had flesh. They also discovered the act of sneezing, when 1-S let out a high-pitched kitten sneeze one day. Both 2 and 3 found it adorable. They where extremely frightened, however, by Gaster’s sneeze, which was loud and gruff. Even the human, who was always fascinated with new sounds, senses, and smells, found the noise absolutely terrifying. 

Gaster had tried to test their hand-eye cordination and relaxes by throwing a ball at them. 2-P had been particularly fascinated by this action, and even refused to give the ball back once he had it, declaring that it was his, and that there would be “NO TASHING”

_Subject is entering a willful phase. I’m not surprised that they have begun testing their boundaries. I will_ _—_

Gaster’s writing was interrupted when 2-P threw the ball at his head. 

~~

The subjects, 3-F especially, had developed a strange obsession with Gaster’s lab coat. He wasn’t sure why. It was a plain piece of fabric, comfortable to wear, but still not made from any interesting texture, was covered in stains from explosive science projects, old food, and whatever other thing he happened to spill on himself, and smelled heavily like cigar smoke. It wasn’t special. And yet, the three of them found it fascinating.

He suspected that 1-S and 2-P liked it because he wore it all the time, though he was still suspicious of 3-F’s attachment. 

~~

_Steady progress at a rapid rate. They can speak in sentences now._

_Subject 1 is quiet and soft-spoken. A lowercaser, I’m sure, without much attention to detail and taken to mumbling. 2, however, is more confident and clear - Uppercase, like myself; a voice that demands attention. Subject 3, in contrast to the two skeletons, doesn’t really talk much. But when she does, she speaks in regular capitalization, with proper sentences; detailed, but not wanting anyone to draw notice. It does not matter what their fonts are; the human shouldn’t even have one, knowing her kind. I did not notice, anyways, and it does not matter._

_They cry and carry on whenever I have to separate them, but I cannot risk leaving them alone unsupervised until Subjects 2 and 3 can understand 1’s condition._

“WHAT’S THAT MEAN?” 2-P asked, somewhat confused and quiet, strangely enough. 

Both he and the human where being told why they had to be careful of 1-S. As usual, 2-P was the one asking questions, though 3-F was listening in intently. 2-P had a tight grip on the humans warm hand, while she gripped back with equal strength. It was clear how much comfort the they took in touching eachother. 

“It means that if you hurt Subject 1 even a little, even by accident, he will die,” Gaster explained to the two of them. 

Both could tell that “die” wasn’t something good, even if they didn’t know what it was. 2-P opened his mouth to ask the question, but 3-F beat him to it. 

“What’s die?” She asked. 

Gaster took a mental note of how she found that particular word important enough to question it. Speaking was not something she did often, though Gaster wasn’t sure why. So he made an effort to keep track of the things she did say, and why. 

“It means he will turn to dust, and you will never see him again,” 

Both subjects gasped, expressions of horror and fear on their faces. Both of their little bodies shook, and 2-P even started to cry, much to Gaster’s dislike. “Stop crying, I’m talking to you,” He snapped at him. This only made the crying worse. The human quickly hugged the taller skeleton, whispering words of comfort, as the three of them often did when one of them where crying. 2-P berriedhis face into her hair, using it to hide. 

_Since then, Subjects 2 and 3 have been very careful._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a review please! And again, Zarla owns handplates. Check it out!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the course of the year, Gaster watches his three subjects grow and bond, at the same time as trying to hide his own growing emotions for the three kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't smoke, kids. 
> 
> Handplates belongs to Zarla

“So, what do you do with a crying baby?” 

Now he was certain that 2-P and 3-F would not hurt 1-S, Gaster had begun to leave them alone with eachother. The three subjects kept eachother company, and he would be allowed to have a break. As little as Gaster cared about his own mental health, he could feel the darkness of the lab making his eyesight worse. 

It wasn’t like the Underground was that bright in general, but the warm glow-lights provided by the Core where much easier on the eyes than the labs fluorescent light bulbs. 

Currently, he was paying a visit to Asgore, the monster king, and Gaster’s closest friend. The man was practically a father to him, and possibly the only person in the universe who Gaster would willingly take advice from. 

“What a sad thought!” Asgore exclaimed, responding to Gaster’s question. He didn’t know why Gaster was asking such a thing; He didn’t know, and if all went according to plan, would never know, about the children in his lab. “Why, you comfort it of course! You hold it, or rock it, or sing to it, until it is soothed,” 

Gaster considered Asgore’s words, and decided he’d rather not. “I see. What are the other options?” 

“Other options?” Asgore said, both confused, and slightly disappointed. 

~~

Gaster checked the human’s stats once again. 

“Human or Monster?” 

Gaster sighed. The entire purpose of creating a human was to destroy the barrier. She was built with determination and everything! If her soul didn’t work, well…

It didn’t matter. He’d find a way to make it work. 

Of course, he couldn’t test anything at the moment. He would have to move onto the next faze of the experiment first. And he couldn’t do that until he was sure the humans body was properly attached to her soul. Which required her to develop her mind. 

While a monster’s soul and body where practically one and the same, the souls of humans had to be connected to their body by the mind. A weak connection meant a human could die easily, which was why infants and human elderly could be damaged easily. When the mind is fully developed; human adulthood, it becomes impossible for a human to die by magic. Meaning a monster could never touch an adult soul. 

Which was why human children where needed to break the barrier. 

It took time and effort to develop a human mind. But Gaster had created a human that could never properly achieve fully developed mind, due to the contradictory nature of her body and soul. He didn’t want her to die easily; she had to be at least a little bit strong to potentially open the barrier. So he had to wait for her to develop. 

But no matter how much time passed, and what he tried to do with her, she would still be a candidate to break the barrier. She could still fulfill her purpose. 

~~

He swore he had only turned his back on them for a few seconds. He swore he did not take his eye off them long enough for them to run off and do… well, THAT! 

But alas, they still did. 

Gaster stood over the three subject in shock. They had somehow got a hold of his screwdriver, and had disassembled his printer. They were both covered in ink. 2-P was practically pouring it on himself, while 1-S wrestled with 3-F to keep her from sticking her ink covered hands in her mouth. 

“God! Don’t do that!” He snapped at 3-F. “You cannot. Lick. The Ink!” 

“Can’t taste?” She asked with a slight pout. 

“No!” Gaster grumbled. What was wrong with this kid? “If you eat ink, you’ll get ink poisoning, and then you’ll die!” 

2-P perked up at the word “die”, worry suddenly plastered on his face. “NO!” he shouted to his companion. “NO LICK! NO DIE, HUMAN!” He grabbed her hands, pushing them towards her lap. The distress seemed to get her attention. 

“see!” 1-S told her. “i said ‘no licking’!” 

The human stuck her tongue out at him. 

Gaster grabbed the parts of the printer and put them on top of one of the barren work tables. “What where you even doing anyways?” He grumbled. 

“WE DOIN’ SCIENCE!” 2-P exclaimed. “PORTAN WORK! VER SMART SKELES! VER SMART HUMAN!” 

Gaster just grumbled even more. “Ugh, that ink is going to stain if I leave it… You three would do this right when I’m in the middle of something, it figures!” 

He took the three to the bathtub, much to their protest, and started scrubbing them off. As usual, 2-P greatly protested the scrubbing. 

“NOOO! NO! NO! NO TASHING! NO TASHIINNG!!” 

“You brought this on yourself, now shush!” 

~~

Gaster felt like he was loosing his mind. His glasses where gone. How could he have walked all the way from the Lab in Hotland to New Home for his meeting with Asgore and Alphys and forgotten his glasses!? It was the subjects faults! They were going to drive him insane, he was sure of it! 

“I know I had them earlier,” He ranted to his two companions, as they sat down for tea, watching him, wearing amused smiles on their faces for…some reason. “I don’t understand where they could have gone. It’s not like a pair of glasses could just get up and walk away,” 

“A-are you sure you looked e-everywhere?” Alphyse asked, her giggles blending in with her stutter. 

Gaster huffed, becoming even more annoyed. “Of course I have, and they’re nowhere to be found! I’m just going to have to see if I can find my spare pair back at the lab. Ugh, what a waste of time!” 

“There’s no need for that, Dr. Gaster,” Asgore said casually, grabbing the skeletons arm with his large, fluffy paw, in order to keep him from leaving. “Come on, sit back down,” 

“Of course there’s a need for it!” Gaster snapped. “I can’t see without them. We’re not going to get anything done like this!” 

“Trust me,” Asgore laughed, placing his giant paws on Gaster's shoulders. “You don’t need to go back to your lab. It’s alright,” 

“It’s _not_ alright, I need to go get them and we’re wasting time why are you—“

The mans ramblings where cut off by Asgore tipping the glasses down from the top of his head, where they where perched, to his bone-made nose hole. 

Embarrassed, Gaster faked a cough, hoping to pretend that this entire incident never happened. “So, what’s on the schedule for today? We have a lot to cover, I’m sure,” 

Asgore would not let him have it. “Do you want to know how long they where up there?

“No” 

“Since you came in,” 

“I SAID NO!” 

Alphyse smiled widely, having filmed the whole thing with her cell phone. _Bratty and Catty are going to love this!_

~~

Any Gaster found that any time the subjects were being loud, leaving the lab was a good idea. It would keep him from blowing up at them. If he blew up at them, then 2-P would cry, and everyone would start shouting louder than before, and Gaster decided that the headache wasn’t worth it. 

Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, the company of Asgore and Alphyse was something he did enjoy. 

He tended to forget that sometimes, Alphyse acted just like the subjects. 

For example, the one time she accidentally spilled a smoothie onto his labcoat, and told him to put it on her heat rock to dry (being a reptilian type monster, she required a heat rock to keep her own cold blood from damaging her. Flesh and blood was such an inconvenience). He had heeded her advice, and bend over to place it on said rock, letting a certain appendage face the air.

She squealed when she saw his little tail. 

Normally, skeletons kept their tail tucked into their pants. Gaster had been forgetting. He honestly thought he learned his lesson when 2-P had pulled it, or when 3-F attempted to put it in her mouth, but he guessed not. 

Gaster felt his cheeks heat up at Alphyse’s loud squeal. “Dr. Alphyse, you have a tail of your own, what on earth would justify such a reaction to mine! They’re entirely unremarkable in every respect!” 

His embarrassment made it worse. “Oh my god now you’re getting all flustered over it this is so cute I’m going to die!” 

~~

Later that day, Gaster went over some papers. He and Alphyse where going to be picked for a promotional job, though Asgore wanted this to be a surprise. Both the scientist pretended they didn’t know about this. 

“Yes, this proposal is perfect. There’s only two people they could possibly choose for this great responsibility, and I think I have a _pretty_ good idea who they’ll be. Don’t you?” He said to Alphyse, smiling, and offering a wink. 

Gaster had forgotten, however that it was kinda hard to wink when you always kept one eye closed anyways. 

“W… what do you mean?” Alphyse asked, confused. 

“I mean _us_ , of course!” Gaster told her, unamused. “I was winking and everything, couldn’t you tell? 

Alphyse didn’t want to say anything

~~

Once the presentation was over, Asgore had a small afterparty. Gaster had tried to collect some candy, thinking of bringing it back to his lab to give to his subjects. 

The problem was, the candy kept falling through the large hole in his hand. 

“Oh, Gaster, did you want some candy?” Asgore asked, heading over, noticing Gaster’s growing frustration on being unable to do something so _goddamn simple_!! “Are you having trouble? I can get it for you, if you like,” 

“No, it’s fine,” Gaster replied, nearly jumping out of his skin in reaction to Asgore’s sudden appearance. “I can manage it, you don’t have to—“ 

“Oh, in fact, let me make you a goodie bag! It’ll just take a moment, wait there,” 

“You don’t have to-“ Gaster just sighed, giving up. 

“Here you are,” Asgore returned with a green bag, filled with an assortment of different candies, as well as a few marshmallows. “I even put in some of those marshmallows you love so much! Don’t eat it all in one sitting, alright?” 

“Thank you!” Gaster grabbed the bag, trying to hurry things along, his cheeks growing red. He was a grown man, Asgore didn’t need to act like he was giving candy to some child! 

“And don’t go eating it instead of a proper dinner either. I don’t want to hear—“ 

“Yes, THANK YOU!” Gaster shouted, the embarrassment intensifying. “I really must be going though! Goodbye!” 

Gaster headed home, his cheeks still flushed from the encounter. He knew that every bone in Asgore’s body was built to be a dad, but that was just ridiculous! “Well, that was humiliating” Gaster muttered to himself. He looked in the bag, counting at least ten marshmallows. That gave him an idea. “Though, not pointless, at least,” 

~~

As soon as he got back to the lab, he presented each of the three subjects with a single marshmallow. 

“Now listen carefully,” He explained. He had said the same thing three separate times, keeping each subject in a different room to eliminate them copying their peer. “You can eat this marshmallow right now, _but_ if you don’t eat it, and wait for fifteen minutes, you’ll get two marshmallows. 

“SO, WAIT FIVTEEN, GET MORE MALLOWS?” 2-P questioned.

“Yes, that’s right,” 

“one mallow… two mallows…” 1-S had hummed to himself, obviously trying to figure out the difference, and which option would benefit him more. 

The human, as usual, didn’t say anything, but had grabbed the marshmallow and started to feel it, amused by it’s squish. Gaster simply rolled his eyes at her antics. 

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Remember what I said,” 

1-S stared at the thing hungrily. “Want mallow… want…” He sat, staring at it, trying to be patient, before eventually falling asleep. 

_Well, that’s one way to do it, I suppose,_ Gaster thought, coming back to see the sleeping skeleton next to the untouched marshmallow. 

2-P had a different solution. “CANT EAT… NO EAT…” He bent down to the edge of the table, reaching out to the white fluffy thing. “MAYBE… TOUCH IS OKAY… NICE MALLOW…”

He somehow ended up befriending the thing. 

3-F, on the other hand, had technically never eaten the marshmallow, but she had done all but with the thing. She squished it, she smelled it, she licked it, she put it in her mouth, took it out, and became amused that the candy became slightly sticky when combined with human saliva. She ended up pushing it onto the wall, trying to get it to stick. It fell off the moment she let go, but it did stick to the dust on the floor. 

Gaster came into the room, not sure what else he expected, but disappointed none the less. 

The human gave him a cheeky smile, seeing his lack of amusement on her dust-covered creation. “Didn’t eat” She said, snark in her voice. 

Gaster raised an eyebrow. Did she just… sass him? 

The test over, he rewarded his subjects with a second marshmallow, though he did take the humans sticky and dusty one and throw it in the trash. He refused to give her a replacement, not like she cared, but both the skeletons where a little upset at this. 

“She didn’t eat,” 1-S said. “She gets two mallows,” He insisted. 

“She did get two. One of them she covered in dust and made inevitable,” Gaster tried to explain. It did nothing to keep the two boys from pestering him. 

“You not bein’ fair,” 1-S chided. “You breakin’ rules. She get’s two marshmallows!” 

“HUMAN GETS TWO! HUMAN GETS TWO!” 2-P began chanting. 

After several minutes of the skeletons bothering him, Gaster finally gave in, giving the human her second one. 

“Your going to be the end of me!” He snapped at her in frustration. As usual, his snapping didn’t bother her a single bit. She just smiled, and said nothing. 

~~

The three subjects sat in their room, making conversation, while Gaster watched them over the video camera. They had been learning new words. They’re speech abilities where improving. They had only been alive for a few months, and they where proving themselves to hold a vast intellect. 

“I can do this!” The human declared. Her eyes started glowing red; magic flowing through them. Gaster knew humans gained certain abilities when interacting with magic; such as reading font, or gaining the Fight/Mercy option in battle, but Frisk could do something that only monsters could; check the stats of her companions without entering a Fight first. 

The two skeletons didn’t notice what the human was doing at first. Not until she told them. 

“You have 25 HP. You want to do a good job!” 3-F announced, pointing at 2-P. “And you have 1 HP! You’re Kinda tired,” She said to 1-S

“WHAT’S HP?” 2-P asked his human companion. She just shrugged. 

“why do i only have 1?” 1-S muttered, slightly annoyed, before turning to the human. “What do you say?” He asked her. 

She closed her eyes tightly and concentrated, the red glow peaking out from under her eyelids. “I say…” She trailed off. “20 HP. Monster or human?” 

“MONSTER OR HUMAN?” 2-P questioned. 

“skele’s are monsters. gasser calls you human,” 1-S stated. “are you not human?” 

“I’m…” 3-F trailed off, before going quiet. She didn’t say another word, unless it was a one word response to answer a question, for the rest of the day. 

~~

The nature of the human was constantly bothering Gaster. Would her soul count as barrier-breaking material? Not even her stats knew what she was. 

She could read HP outside of battle. No ACT —> CHECK function necessary. And she had figured out how to do so before the skeletons, the _real_ monsters, learned how to. And her eyes glowed. They where like two little red flashlights placed inside her head, and Gaster couldn’t stand it. He created this human so she could break the barrier, not to just sit around his lab being useless! 

Gaster let out a loud sigh. He couldn’t give up hope yet. He hadn’t even tested her. Her mind wasn’t strong enough for him to try and push her through, so he had to be patient. He would see if she could go in and out of the barrier. And if she could, then his experiment would’ve been a success. If she couldn’t, however…

Well, he could always _make_ her able, one way or another. 

~~

He had let the subjects wonder around while he did paperwork, but ended up falling asleep. 2-P, always seeking affection, took advantage of Gaster’s inability to protest to place the doctors hand atop his little head. He shook the hand, as if Gaster was patting his head. His companions had done the same to him, and he always loved it. 

“Good skele,” 2-P whispered, repeating the complements that he always wanted Gaster to say to him. “Ver smart. Like you Lots,” 

Gaster would never know

~~

_Entry Number !(#%!*^(^)# &^(!%*%_

_Since I moved them into the same room, they are much quieter and easier to work with. They chatter constantly…_

_~~_

_Entry Number &^#%(*@_

_Whenever I go see them, they are holding or touching each other. They are desperate for physical contact. At least they won’t ask it from me._

_They even sleep like that. It doesn’t seem like it’d be comfortable.Sometimes their souls glow in unison, even the humans. Her chest becomes warmer, according to the heat signatures, when the skeletons souls are glowing. I believe this happens when they are dreaming._

Gaster put down his notes, observing the sleeping subjects. 2-P was leaned up against the wall, both 1-S and 3-F curled up in his lap. His head was resting on 1-S’s, while his fingers found themselves tangled in 3-F’s hair. Her fist held 1-S’s nightgown, which had fallen out of her mouth as she fell asleep. He hadn’t given them a blanket; skeleton’s didn’t get cold, and the human had yet to complain about being cold, so he hadn’t given her one (yes, he could see her shivering in the camera’s every so often, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to care). But tonight, they didn’t shiver at all; their glowing souls admitting all the warmth they needed. 

~~

_Entry number (#^@ &^@(%_

_They are voracious eaters. Given their rapid development, it makes sense. Out of curiosity, I gave them half a portion one night to see what they would do. They split the difference. I suspect given only a crumb they’d find a way to share it. I don’t know where they learned to be so selfless with eachother. It’s not a trait I’d think would be inborn. Especially not in the human. It’s little things like these that make me wonder if she’s even a human at all._

_~~_

_Entry Number @(#$^ &@&^(_

_I gave them one pillow to see who’d assert dominance and claim it for their own. She I checked up on them, they’d torn it up and were playing with the stuffing._

_~~_

_Entry number ~ &((%(&^*#%^*@(#&%_

_They never stop asking me questions. At least their vocabulary is growing_

“What is…”

“disappointing?”

“SPECIMEN?”

“Color?” 

“alternating current?”

“ELECTRICITY?”

“Energy?” 

“marrow?”

“CALCIUM?” 

“Muscle?” 

“laser?” 

“FORBIDDEN?”

“Time?” 

_I did make an annoying error, once, while I was distracted._

“WHAT ARE THEY?” 2-P once asked. Like usual, he was holding his companions in his arms, while the two smaller subjects cuddled close to him. 3-F was, as usual, sucking on her gown. “WHAT IS WE? ARE THEY… ME? AM I THEM?”

“No, you three are not the same person,” Gaster replied, focusing on his work. 

“THEN WHAT ARE WE?” 

“You are things,” Gaster answered. “Though, I suppose _technically_ one could say you were siblings —“ 

That word; _siblings;_ would be the word that united the three of them, and gave them a sense of purpose. Individuality, even. The word that brought them hope. That made them squirm in resistance. 

A word that made them monsters and human, not just things. 

“siblings?” 1-S repeated. “they’re my siblings?” 

“My siblings,” The human hummed quietly. 

“ARE YOU OUR SIBLING TOO?” 

“I made you three,” 

“BUT.. WHAT ARE YOU? ARE YOU US? WHAT ARE YOU TO US?” 

“Quiet!” Gaster snapped. 

_They unfortunately latched onto the word. Sibling this, sibling that. perhaps they’ll grow out of it. i should have been more careful with my wording._

_Things cannot be siblings._

_A human could_ never _be a proper sibling to a monster._

_~~_

_Entry number &#^%(*@#%_

_They are starting to read. I’m being carful about what I give them… I don’t want them getting ideas about the outside world. Plus there are two particular words I’d be dammed if they ever pick up._

_Subjects 1 and 3 are fast learners. 2 less so. He struggles with reading. And my hope is that he inherited my—it’s a physical problem with his eyes and not a mental one. Bad eyes can be fixed. Even with 1 and 3’s help, he has difficulty._

Gaster remembered the picture 2-P had drawn as an answer to the problem he was given. It was of four stick figures holding hands. Two of them where short, one with a circular head and big eyes, meant to be 1-S, and the other with raged lines growing from her head, and two lines as eyes; 3-F. He drew himself taller than the other two, with a square head and a large smile. The tallest figure, wearing glasses, with one eye shut and the other open, was clearly Gaster himself. 

_He interprets even the clearest directions in strange ways. He seems intent on sabotaging himself at every turn._

_1, at least, seems very clever._

“why don’t weever see anyone else down here? are we a secret or something?” 

_Perhaps too much for his own good, at times._

_The human seems to have her own odd quirks. She’s intelligent, and curious, which are good traits for strengthening the mind. However, I will find words written on her paper that I have not taught her. My theory is that she learned such terms by checking my stats. However, there is one word that couldn’t have come from me. It couldn’t have come from anywhere._

_DETERMINATION_

_When I asked her where she learned this word, she had said “From the yellow star,”_

_She refused to give further details._

_~~_

Gaster searched through books and old lab reports, trying to figure out what the human could have possibly meant by “yellow star”. He kept a close eye on her, looking out for any strange behavior. She didn’t do anything abnormal. The only clew Gaster had was how she’d consistently stand in the corner of her room every time she woke up, and every time before she went to bed. Her companions had questioned her actions, but she would never give them an answer. The most anyone got out of her when it came to that corner of the room was a shrug. 

It had been six months since the subjects had been released from suspension. Over the past six months, Gaster heard rumors amongst the people about the occasional sighting of a yellow flower wearing an angry expression on his face. The maintenance workers at the core had complained several times that Gaster had skipped his routine checks, or that he half-assed them. He didn’t really care. He had bigger problems than some rusty nails in the core walls. 

These three things he created where going to progress monster kind in ways that have never been seen before. They could break the barrier. And if they couldn’t, they could always become weapons. If Gaster did everything right, their magic should be strong enough to kill a human adult. 

~~

It was late at night, and the subjects refused to go to bed. 

“It’s time for you three to go to be— your cell. Let’s go!” 

“no!” 1-S declared, standing in front of his fellow subjects in a defensive stance, rattling his bones at Gaster. “don worry, i save you! leave us alone!!” 

2-P was perplexed by this act. 3-F decided to do the same thing, blowing raspberry’s at Gaster in place of bone rattling. 

2-P grabbed them both, stopping their antics. “OH! NO, IS OKAY! DON’T BE BAD, NO RATTLE! AND NO RASPBERRY’S, OK?” 

1-S growled at Gaster, while 3-F seemed offended by her siblings accusation. “I wasn’t bad! I was copying Sibling!” 

~~

Later, the three sat in their cell, curled up around eachother as usual. 

“i don’t trust him. he’s no good, i know it!” 1-S declared. 

“SIBLING!” 2-P scolded. “HE’S NICE, YOU’LL SEE! HE FIXED MY ARM. HE MUST BE GOOD,” 

“don’t like him. he’s up to somethin,” 

“SIBLING, BE GOOD!” 

~~

A few days later, the three of them played with a dust bunny in their room. “maybe you’re right… he hasn’t done anything bad so far. maybe he is ok,” 1-S decided. 

“YOU SEE? I TOLD YOU!” 2-P cheered. Gaster watched their conversations on the monitor, a heavy feeling he didn’t care to describe rising in his chest. “EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, YOU’LL SEE!” 

~~

The next thing Gaster ended up teaching the three was SOULS. He had been changing 1-S out of his gown, exchanging it for a clean one. He had 1-S sitting between his legs; closer to himself than he normally let either of them, but he was too tired to use blue magic to keep them still. 

“What’s that?” The human asked, pointing to the glowing blue heart protected by the rib cage. Gaster nearly jumped out of his skin, not expecting to hear her voice. 

“That’s his SOUL,” Gaster explained. “Most monsters don’t have visible SOULs, but skeletons do. Our ribcages over them some protection,” 

3-F pouted, disappointed to find another thing that her siblings could do that she couldn’t. 

2-P reached his hand forwards, attempting to touch it. 

“No,” Gaster said firmly, smacking the boys hand. He also made sure to smack the humans for good measure. She had yet to try and touch it, but he knew that she would. “Don’t touch someone’s SOUL, it’s rude. No touching,” 

“What’s a soul?” 3-F asked. 

“It’s the culmination of your being,” 

“WHAT’S—“ 2-P began, slightly confused. 

Gaster sighed. “It’s what makes you corporeal,” 

“WHAT?” 

“It’s what keeps your bones together,” 

“OH. DOES THE HUMAN HAVE A SOUL?” 

“Yes,” 

“WHY CAN’T I SEE IT?” 

“Because her skin and muscle covers it,” 

“DOES IT KEEP HER BONES TOGETHER?” 

Gaster just let out a groan. He didn’t exactly feel like explaining human biology at the moment. 

“CAN WE SEE HER SOUL” 

“She must learn to summon it, first. That will come later,” Technically, Gaster could’ve summoned it himself, but he didn’t have the energy to do so at the moment. 

“My soul is red,” The human suddenly said. 

Gaster did a double take. He had never seen her summon her soul. Her stats wouldn’t show her what it looked like. How could she possibly—

“REALLY?!” 2-P asked excitedly. 

“Uh huh,” 3-F hummed back. “It’s red, and looks like a heart,” 

“Have you…” Gaster hesitated. “Seen your soul?” 

The human ignored him. 

“WHY IS YOUR SOUL RED? OUR SOUL’S ARE WHITE,”

“I don’t know,” She replied, before turning to Gaster. “Is it because of DETERMINATION,” 

“what’s determination?” 1-S pipped in. 

All three of them looked at Gaster expectantly. He decided to give them the short answer. It would satisfy their curiosity and keep them from learning too much. 

“It’s what makes Subject 3 a Human,” He said. 

That was enough for 2-P, though 1-S seemed suspicious. 3-F just smiled as if she knew more than he did. Gaster didn’t like that. 

2-P jumped to the next question. “WHY DOES MINE LOOK BIGGER?” 

“Your body is bigger, so your SOUL is bigger to sustain you. Your SOULs are unique, but the basic principles should still hold,” 

“UNIQUE?” 

“does that mean your soul is different than ours?” 1-S chimed in. 

“Outwardly, they appear much the same, but they are different, yes,”

“can we see?” 1-S begged. 

“YEAH! CAN WE SEE? CAN WE SEE?” 2-P chanted excitedly. 

Gaster sighed. Maybe it was because he was tired. Maybe it was because of the warm heart attack he felt when placing a clean gown onto 1-S. Maybe he wanted to show the human, who seemed to know something he didn’t, something she couldn’t possibly have seen. But he pulled his shirt back, and showed the three of them his souls. 

Both the skeletons eyes widened in fascination. And the look on the humans face told Gaster he was correct in assuming she had never seen such a thing before. 

“woah!” 

“WOW, IT DOES LOOK LIKE OURS, BUT…” 

The human finished the sentence. “your heart’s so big,” 

There it was again. The warm heart attack. And the human had caused it. He hated it when the human caused it. She was a homunculus created to mimic a creature he despised; a tool to free monsters from their prisons, a thing that could be used as a weapon against her own kind. He hated it when she said kind things, smiled warmly, made him feel _proud_ of her. He wasn’t supposed to form an attachment to any of them. Least of all her. 

He stood up, and walked off. “…That’s enough talk about SOULs” 

“BUT-“ 

“No more questions,” 

~~

They kept getting a hold of his things. 2-P was absolutely fascinated with his lab coat. The human would grab anything that didn’t taste disgusting if she put it in her mouth and keep it. She nearly choked on one of the smaller things she placed in there. And despite the scary experience, she still put small things in her mouth, she just made sure not to swallow them. 

At least her siblings would always snap at her and demand she spit it out when she did so. 

One day, 1-S got ahold of his Rubix cube. He even swatted Gaster’s hand and demanded “no touching” when Gaster had attempted to take it back. 

Gaster had to resist the urge to throw his desk at the dumb kid. 

Another time they had gotten a hold of his screwdriver, which lead to a rather awkward moment for Gaster. 

“Oh, there it is. I’ll be taking that back, thank you! I take my eye off you three for two seconds…” 

“WHAT’S ‘THANK YOU’?” 2-P asked. 

“Hmm?” The scientist took a second to register the question. “Oh, it’s one of those things people say to be polite,” He let out a fake cough to hide his next comment. “Or sarcastic,” 

The three subjects looked at him curiously, urging him to continue. 

“Thank you, please, excuse me, you’re welcome, sorry,” 

“PLEASE? EXCUSE ME?” 

“what do those mean?” 

Gaster let out a sigh. “Excuse me is for when you’ve inconvenienced someone, you use please when you’re asking for something, thank you expresses gratitude towards someone, you’re welcome is what you say when someone thanks you, sorry is for when you do something wrong,” 

“so, if you want something, you use please to ask for it?” 1-S concluded. 

“OH! OH!” 2-P suddenly pipped up, excited, as if the greatest idea in the world had just occurred to him. “THEN… CAN I HAVE A HUG, PLEASE?” 

He looked so bright, happy, and desperate. Gaster almost hesitated. “No,” 

2-P started to cry, much to Gaster’s annoyance. Why was the boy so goddamn needy? 1-S didn’t need to be _constantly_ touched. Not even the human proved to be this obnoxious. 

“can… we have a hug please?” 1-S asked hesitantly. The human smiled at her taller sibling, her eyes practically begging for the same thing. 

“OF COURSE YOU CAN!!!!” 2-P sobbed loudly, grabbing the two of them with desperation and strength, practically squishing his two siblings. 

Gaster rolled his eyes, and left them like that, cursing under his breath. 

_~~_

Subject 1 was developing an attitude. Gaster was slightly amused by this, but mostly annoyed. The small skeleton made a habit of slurring words together. So Gaster thought teaching him about contractions would help improve his speech patterns. 

He might have made a mistake. 

“Now, contractions are abbreviated combinations of two words. _Don’t_ for _do not_ , or _can’t_ for _can not,_ or _should’ve,_ NOT _shoulda,_ for _should have_ ,” 

“why not shoulda?” 1-S asked curiously. 

“ _Shoulda_ is sloppy and improper. _Woulda_ would also be incorrect, and so would similar variants such as _gonna_ or _dunno_ ,” 

“how else can you not talk proper?” 

Gaster made the mistake of thinking 1-S wanted to learn which words _not_ to use. He should’ve suspected that the damn kid just wanted to ruin his vocabulary. 

“Properly, and let’s see… You can use incorrect contractions, such as _ain’t,_ you can drop syllables or the last letter of words, such as _goin_ or _doin._ You can slur words together, and/or mispronounce them, like—“ 

Gaster stopped when he noticed the small skeleton looking at him with stars in his eyes. 

“I walked right into that one,” Gaster moaned. “Why do I keep doing this to myself?” 

“i dunno what you talkin’ about,” 

~~

The three subjects once caught Gaster smoking in front of them. 

“WHAT’S THAT? IS IT ON FIRE?”

“Smell’s weird,” 

“is that smoke? why—“ 

“It’s MY business if I want to smoke or not! It’s not even bad for monsters i have DONE THE SCIENCE!! It’s perfectly fine, and it calms me down, and I can make my OWN decisions about it, thank you!!” 

He then stomped off, leaving the three subjects very confused. 

~~

“There you are!” Asgore cried. Gaster had showed up late to the meeting he was supposed to have with him and Alphyse. “I was getting worried!” 

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I just got distracted,” Gaster sighed. “What’s on the schedule” 

“Wait a minute” Asgore suddenly said, nose scrunched up, and disappointment on his face. “What’s that smell? Gaster, you aren’t smoking again, are you!?” 

“N— no?” He tried to deny. 

It didn’t work. 

~~

Gaster sat at one of the desk while the subjects played on the floor. He was surprised to see the human come up to him. 

“Smoke stick?” She questioned. 

Gaster’s face twisted into a snarl. “Like I said, I’m an adult, and I can—“ 

“Can I try?” 

Gaster looked at her, his eyebrows practically flying past the top of his forehead. The surprise wore off when he remembered that this was the _human_ he was talking to. Of _course_ she would want to try a cigarette, it’s something new. 

Well, it wouldn’t harm her if he didn’t light it. 

3-F looked at the thing. Touched it, smelled it, shook it a big to see if there was any sound coming from it. Then, as always, she put it in her mouth. 

“No smoke?” She questioned. 

Gaster just sighed, took the cigarette back, and placed it in the ash tray, feeling annoyed that he wasted one of them by letting the girl chew on it. 

~~

_Entry Number ( &#%^)@*(&_

_They smile when I come to see them. They ask me what I do outside. They ask me if they can go outside._

_~~_

_Entry number #%^(*@)#%) &(_

_Subject 2 tried to hold my hand_

~~

He was becoming attached to them. He couldn’t deny it any longer. He wasn’t sure why. Didn’t even want to know why. But those bright smiles… They where clever and good. And every time he touched them, or they touched him, he felt an odd energy, drawing him closer to them. 

Even the damn human somehow wormed her way into his heart. 

Asgore would’ve called it “parental instinct”. 

Gaster couldn’t have that. That was Asgore’s thing. That was the reason Asgore would cry every time he had to hurt something. It was why Gaster took on this mission. Why he created the three Subjects in the first place. 

They where things. Tools to be used. He couldn’t get attached to tools. 

But when the three of them all winked; one eye closed, one eye open, like Gaster did, he suddenly realized what was going on. 

“NOW I LOOK LIKE YOU!” 

“i figured it out first!” 

“Good, right?” 

Gaster shuttered, visibly. It was like that time 1-S accidentally said “dada”. They where mimicking him; looking up to him. _They wanted to be like him_. Like children…

His children. 

The two skeletons. His sons. The human. His daughter. 

He just considered the damn human to be his daughter!

This wasn’t supposed to happen! He wasn’t supposed to become attached. Not to the skeletons. Especially not to the human. 

But 1-S was so sharp. Interested in science, like he was. A fast learner, like he was. So much of this little boy reminded Gaster of himself. The boy had inherited so many traits from Gaster. As if the scientist really was his father. 

And 2-P was always trying his best. He struggled, and fooled around, but he was always ready to try. Always ready to support. To do his best at anything. Who did all he could to re-ignite the happiness in Gaster’s long dead heart. 

Then there was the human, asking Gaster if her mimicking was good. The tough and curious little girl. Who wanted to see everything; do everything; touch everything; taste everything; smell everything; experience everything. Independent and mysterious, with an aura of comfort and kindness. And an undying spirit that Gaster couldn’t help but admire. 

He had grown attached to them. Less than a year in, and he had grown attached to them. How was he supposed to keep this up? He was supposed to wait three years after their conception to move on to proper testing. That would be enough time for him to test them without the risk of damaging their souls. 

His own emotions where jeopardizing his mission. That couldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it happen! 

~~

_Entry Number *# &^(@$!%^*@#%_

_I’ve made a huge mistake._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a review! 
> 
> Next chapter we'll be getting into some of the more... violent parts of the Handplates story


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster has a decision to make. And he needs to remember what started him down his path in order to make it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't drill handplates into your test-tube children's hands. I do not advise it. If Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" has taught us anything, it's that you should take responsibility and not be a dick to your artificially created kids.

There was a choice in front of him. A choice that Gaster had to make. And he had to make it now. He couldn’t push it off. He couldn’t wait the three years he had planned. It was now or never. This was the time; the _only_ time, he could decide wether or not to continue his experiment the way he planned, or if he would throw the towel in, and cancel his plans. 

He had to remember why he was doing this. 

~~

“Gaster! Are you alright!?” 

Gaster felt a large pair of fuzzy hands wrap around his torso, picking him up. The soft flowers and the golden scenery starting to register once again. Balance still off, Gaster leaned into the fuzzy hands. His head hurt. 

“You passed out,” Asgore informed him. Gaster watched the yellow flower petals that had been stuck to his lab coat fall off. 

“Unh…” He moaned, holding his head. “I’m alright… I must have gotten dizzy,” 

“Gaster, I’m really starting to worry about you,” Asgore said, concern in his eyes. “You’re working too hard! It’s taking a toll on your health,” Gaster tried to squirm away, but the big fuzzy hands continued to hold him in place, as Asgore gently brushed the flower settles off him. Had his hands always been that big? Had Gaster gotten skinnier? The scientist felt frustrated; of course he looked as if he where wasting away. And of course he was worrying Asgore. And as much as he wish his friends would leave him alone, he could never escape their care. 

“Whatever it is can’t be that important!” Asgore insisted. 

“I’m very close to a breakthrough, I’m sure of it!” Gaster insisted. He had the proper set up. He had the skeletons; who’s unique souls would make them the most powerful monsters the world had seen. He had the human; who could be the final key to breaking the barrier. He had all he needed. He just…

“I’m going to get us all out of here, you’ll see!” He insisted. “I’m alright, I just need more time…” 

The smiling faces of the three children showed up in his head. It refused to leave him alone; that dreadful decision he had to make. 

“Look at your poor hands!” Asgore exclaimed, eying the flat surface with the two holes inside of them. The already damaged bone was becoming worse; more brittle and weak. “They look worse every time I see them. Are they giving you trouble? I know you said it was an accident, but—“ 

“Please,” Gaster interrupted. “I asked that we not talk about this,” 

Asgore continued anyways. “I’m not sure I believe you,” 

Gaster didn’t say anything. He knew exactly what he did. He knew exactly what he was doing. But most of all, he knew he couldn’t say a thing. 

“I understand that you want to get us out of here, but it’s not worth tearing yourself to pieces,” Asgore said, his voice calm, and kind. Reassuring. It took Gaster all he had not to let down his walls. “This isn’t your burden to bear. When the time comes and the last soul falls… I will break the barrier and do what has to be done,” 

Gaster looked at the flowers on the ground. It was coming back to him: His reasons, his motives, and his drive. 

“That is my duty as king,” 

Asgore: he was doing this for Asgore. 

“But my duty is also to my people, and my friends. And your wellbeing is more important to me than anything your working on,” 

He was doing this so Asgore would never have to hurt again. 

“I don’t want you hurting yourself, not for _any_ reason. I can’t lose you too,” 

He was doing this so Asgore would never have to cry again. 

“Stop pushing yourself so hard. It’s not your responsibility,” 

He was doing this so monsters could be free _without_ Asgore sacrificing his sanity. 

“Come on, some tea will help you relax. You can go back to work after you unwind a little, alright?” 

“If you insist…” Gaster muttered, following the smiling king away from the throne room, and to the comforting house that Asgore made his own in New Home. 

_You’ve always been to gentle, and too kind. You don’t have the same darkness inside that I have_. 

He knew what he was doing. He knew why he was doing it. 

_If anyone should make such sacrifices, it will be me. I will get us out of here, no matter what the cost._

For Asgore. 

_And you will never have to kill anyone again. I’ll make sure of it._

For Asgore.

~~

He was doing this for Asgore. He was doing this for monsterkind. 

Asgore; who had always looked out for him. Who had always made sure Gaster took care of himself. 

He had done so over and over again. Gaster remembered all those times. 

_“Gaster, you need to rest. Why are you working so hard? no one is asking you to do this. It’s like your trying to give yourself a breakdown. What is it that’s troubling you!?”_

Even before Gaster had drilled holes into his hands. Even before he started the experiment. Even before he snuck into the chambers and took a small piece of the Green Soul to use as a base for his homunculus, Asgore had always looked out for him. 

_“I don’t need rest, there are too many thing I have to do. Breakdowns are for people with emotions. I have to work. That’s all that matters, that’s what I’m for—“_

_Asgore had grabbed him, pulling Gaster towards him. “You are more than just your work! You are a person and you need to rest. This needs to stop. Whatever it is your feeling is_ okay _! You don’t have to push yourself like this!”_

_“I don’t feel anything, let go of me! I have to work it’s all I’m— It’s why I— If I don’t there’s no reason- there’s no reason I-_

_Asgore had pulled him into a hug, whispering words of comfort to Gaster, while his bones rattled in distress. “I don’t feel anything!” Gaster insisted. “I don’t feel anything!”_

_“Shhh,” Asgore whispered, pulling Gaster in deeper into his soft chest. “It’s alright. It’s alright,”_

_~~_

Gaster, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out why Asgore cared about him. He was a disaster of a man; who fell over after standing up from the couch too fast. Who threw green bones at his more annoying patients. Who made absolutely zero eye contact with anyone Asgore tried to introduce him to. 

But Asgore wasn’t the only person Gaster kept in mind. There was Alphyse; another scientist that worked with him, a kind and curious woman, and Gaster’s friend. Who helped him set up a social media account, despite never using it. Who lacked confidence, but was brilliant all the same. 

Yes, he was doing this for his friends. Who gave him rain sounds for his birthday, to remind Gaster of the surface that he missed so much. Who he had so many good times with. He had watched anime with Alphyse. Had tea with Asgore. They treated him like friends, despite how difficult it was to socialize with him. They where so gentle and kind, and…

_“Why did I ever agree to this… I don’t want to kill_ anyone _,”_

There where so many reasons for Gaster not to go through with this experiment. But even so, he chose to do it anyways. Because if he was successful, Asgore would never have to kill anyone again. 

Gaster couldn’t possibly argue against such an idea. 

And so, he drilled holes into his hands in order to get the necessary material. 

It was only five seconds per hand…

~~

It was moments after Gaster drilled the holes. It a month before he began to create his homunculi. A little less than a year before he took them out of their growth chamber. 

He had desperately been knocking on the door of Alphys’s house. She was drowsy, clad in pajama’s, and glasses almost falling off her face when she answered it. 

“Oh my god!” She exclaimed jumping out of her skin. Her face turned red, the only thought going through her head was how ridiculous she looked at the moment. “I-I- Dr. Gaster! Wha- what are you—? Why didn’t you call? I-I-I’m n-not dressed—“

His next words surprised her. “I need you to heal me.” 

He was speaking in his born font of Wingdings, something that most monsters couldn’t understand. He had always used sign language, or Hands, as many monsters called it, to translate his unreadable words. But he wasn’t doing that right now. Not with either his hands, or the two magic-made ghost hands that hung behind him, signing his words whenever he was using his physical hands for something else. 

“Why aren’t you signing? Is something wrong?” 

Gaster showed her his palms, which where covered in tan bandages. Alphys was slightly surprised, but not overly worried. After all, it was common for scientist to get cuts and bruises on their hands. 

It was why Gaster was coming to her in the middle of the night to be healed, instead of healing himself, as she knew he was capable of doing, that worried the Alphys. 

“Oh-oh! Your h-hands!” What happened? Are you hurt?” She led him inside, feeling embarrassed. “I-I can try and heal you, come on. But, uh, why aren’t you using your magic hands? Uh, never mind! I-I probably shouldn’t ask, hehe…” 

The messy state of her house made Alphyse even more embarrassed. He couldn’t have come at a worse time. She was questioning why he came at all. 

“Oh jeez, uh. D-don’t, uh… Just ignore all that, uh, I haven’t had a chance to clean up around here,” She laughed nervously, guiding Gaster onto the floor. “Uh, here, sit here, let me see. What happened?” She then realized he couldn’t tell her without his hands. “Oh, right, you can’t really, uh…” _God, so stupid!_

“Um, maybe if I c-could, uh, take the bandages off, it m-might be easier if I could see w-hat happened,” she could sense Gaster’s hesitation. He didn’t want her to see. He didn’t want anyone to see. This concerned Alphyse even more. 

“Uh, I mean, I get being embarrassed if— if it was an accident but I-I’m not going to judge you or anything! It-it happens to everyone eventually, right? E-even someone as, as graceful and careful as you…” She trailed off. “It was an accident, right?” 

Gaster didn’t say a thing, but the look on his face told the young woman that he wouldn’t have said anything even if he could. 

“Right. S-so, everyone has accidents every now and then, it’s— it’s okay, so if I could just. 

Gaster muttered something, his Wingdings making it incomprehensible, as he held out his hands, letting Alphyse take the bandages off. “Uh, yeah… d-din’t catch any of that, uh… So let’s just, uh, take a look,” 

She dropped the bandages in absolute shock and horror. Surprised to see a perfectly cut circle right in Gaster’s palms. The bone marrow looked as if it would break apart any second. 

“OH MY GOD?!!?” Alphyse exclaimed, unable to keep the scream from coming out. “What happened?! What did you do, oh my god!?”

Gaster didn’t say anything. 

“Oh god, no wonder you didn’t want to sign, this must… This must hurt so bad, it— it’s cut right through, it’s so clean…” The horrid realization came to Alphyse, but Gaster was quick to dismiss it. 

“It was an accident,” He said, finally speaking Hands in addition to his Wingdings. 

“Is… is the other one like this?” 

Gaster’s silence answered her question. 

“T-th-this… I don’t know how you could… this… this doesn’t… um,” Alphyse didn’t look Gaster in the eye. “This doesn’t look like—, like an accident…” 

Gaster didn’t respond. 

“U-um… do you have the uh, the uh, the bone? Pieces? ‘Cause, uh, if you do, t-then maybe I c-could…” 

Gaster shook his head. The bone pieces where necessary for what he was going to do. He would accept these scars. And Alphys would just have to accept them too. 

“You don’t have those either? Without them…” She paused. “I mean, I can make it stop hurting, but I w-wont be able to…” 

“I know,” Gaster said, plainly. 

Alphyse activated her green magic, beginning the healing process. “Jeez, I wish I could understand you…” 

After the healing was done, Gaster stood up to leave, only to be stopped by Alphys for one last word.

“Uh, D-Dr. G-Gaster, u-um, before you, uh— I, uh, I just, um…” She hesitated for a brief moment, trying to find the right words. 

“I know, uh, things have been hard for everyone, since what h-happened. A-and I know you where close to the king and queen, and… uh…”

It had been several decades since the King killed the first fallen child, and the Queen ran off, never to be seen again. And that even still hurt the underground, like a fresh wound that refused to heal. 

“But, um, you know, if you- uh, I mean, um- if you’re ever feeling, or, uh, I mean, if you’re… or no, uh,” Gaster let her take her time. 

“Um, I just, wanted to say that, uh,” She finally figured it out. “There are people who care about you, uh, a lot, and— And i-if somethings wrong or, um, you n-need help, or, or someone to talk to, uh, you can talk to me! Or— or someone else, even, if you don’t like me, um…” 

Gaster had yet to leave, so she continued. “I-I guess what I’m trying to say is, um, you’re not— Your not alone, you know? Um, so… yeah!” 

She was done. And Gaster left, bidding her goodnight, a melancholy aroma hanging over him. 

_That’s where your wrong_. He thought, considering the lizard woman’s words. She was trying her best to comfort him; she really was. But she didn’t know— couldn’t know— what gaster was planning to do. _You can’t help me. Not with this. From here, I am alone._

~~

_I’ve waited too long. The project is in danger. My objectivity has— Is at risk of being compromised. I cannot afford any further delay._

_They are still childlike, and their minds have not quite developed to the extent I wished, but that doesn’t matter. No more time can be wasted. Even this, in the end, was a foolish diversion. It does not matter if they can understand. It does not matter what they look like, or if they can think, or what they feel._

_This is not what I made them for._

_I need to regain my focus. I need to regain control. I need to remember why I’m doing this._

Gaster measured the hands of each of his subjects, preparing for the next step. The step that would officially mark them as things; as experiments. The point of no return. 

Even then, the children where curious, and eager to learn and ask questions. 

“WHY DON’T MY HANDS LOOK LIKE YOURS?” 

“You and the other subjects don’t look alike, do you?” 

“I GUESS NOT…” 

_I knew when I began what this would entail. I knew what I’d have to do. I knew there’d be no going back. No forgiveness. Decisions were made all for the greater purpose; to create these living tools._

The choice was clear. Appearing like options in a fight box. ACT, ITEM, FIGHT, MERCY. 

To act amorally, or to give kindness. 

The picture was clear in his head. He would introduce his three subjects to the rest of the underground. Raise them like children, as the siblings they already thought they where. Teach them words like “brother”, “sister”, “mother”, “father”, “family”, and “friend”. He could love them; and let them love him back. It was possible. All he had to do was choose mercy. 

But the thought of Asgore’s face, filled with sorrow as he took the lives of human children. The thought of the king and queens son, coming home with his dead human sibling in his arms, only to die himself. His little body turning to dust was something Gaster could never get out of his mind. The thought of the queen running away, never to be seen again. 

The thought of the empty battlefield, filled with the dust of his brethren, as he cowered away, hidden by a lab coat. 

_To even consider such selfish sentimentality get’s people killed._

_There is only one choice._

_THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE!_

_I told myself I’d make whatever sacrifices necessary to achieve my goals; I am NOT going back on my word! I’m the only one who can do this, who_ will _do this! There are no other options._

_I am going to get us all out of here_. 

He strapped 2-P down onto a metal slab, ignoring the look of pleading fear on the young boy’s face. 

_No matter what it takes_. _The greatest test of my strength._

He equipped the drill. He chose _not_ to give them mercy. 

_I am DETERMINED_. 

“Can you move?” Gaster asked 2-P, placing a mettle plaque over the boys hands. WDG-2P. That would be what marked the boy. For the rest of his live. 

“N-NO,” 2-P replied, his soul glowing in distress. “IT… IT’S HARD TO BREATHE…” 

Gaster continued on with his work. 

“I…” the boy peeped out. He was about to cry. He was absolutely terrified. “I’M SCARED,” He told Gaster. 

He was hoping that his quiet pleas would be enough for Gaster to let him out. Sure, Gaster would make them do boring test and activities. Sure, he wouldn’t ever let the boy hug him. Sure, he was unresponsive, moody, and would yell at them. But it never felt malicious. But this did. 

Gaster only confirmed the young boys fears by saying “Good. You should be scared of me,” 

He turned on the drill. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now begins the heavier parts of the Handplates series. I can't say I'm too sorry, but I can say I will be crying just as much as everyone else, because Handplates is a sad story, no matter what AU you drop it into.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster drills the plates. The children try to process his actions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry

_It is done._

_They asked me, begged me, screamed at me to stop. When I did not, they called out for their “siblings” to save them. When they did not, they called out for someone,_ anyone, _to help them._

_But nobody came._

_A lesson we all must learn at some point_. 

The skeletons where simple. He just had to carve spots into their bones, and drill the hand plates into them. Not even 1-S’s low HP seemed to pose a problem; after all, Gaster had been preparing his intent for this very moment since he created the three subjects. The human, however, was another matter entirely. He couldn’t just drill the hands in; she had skin, blood, and a nervous system he needed to content with. 

He ended up making her plate extraordinarily thin, borrowing from the human medical tactic known as “skin graphing”. He scraped off the surface skin; making her bleed, but not disrupting the sensory neurons, then used magic fires to sear the metal plate with the skin, constructing the wound in such a way that the skin wouldn’t grow over the plate. It was a good thing her body was still sensitive to magic. Maybe doing these things early wouldn’t hurt her after all. Judging by the way she screamed, Gaster could only assume she was put in more pain than either of her monster companions. Not like he was surprised. Gaster had always seen flesh and blood as an inconvenience. 

Now, he sat on the floor of his work room, the picture 2-P had drawn sitting near him on the floor, where he had left it the day before while cleaning out his desk. He drew a breath from the cigarette in his mouth, staring out into space. His body was shaking, and he felt very tired. 

_It is done. And I must admit, a part of me is curious now what they will do. Their limited worldview must be completely shattered. What will they build out of the pieces? Can they even understand what just happened to them? How will they adapt to this new paradigm? What will change?_

~~

The children where crying. They where confused, and felt betrayed. Their whole world had come crashing down around them. The man who they had looked up to as a parental figure had tortured them, leaving a permanent scar that would not only never heal, but forever mark them as _things_. Now, they would always be less than people. And there was nobody that could help them. 2-P sat on the bed, bawling in despair, while 1-S passed around, hot tears of anger flowing from his eye sockets. 3-F sat in the corner of their cell, right next to the yellow star that only she could see, eyes wide, with water falling from them. She barley moved. One could’ve mistaken her for a doll. 

“NNNGH! MY HAND HURTS, I CAN’T GET IT OFF! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US?!?” 

“i knew it, i knew it, i knew we shouldn’t— i knew we couldn’t trust him—”

  
“WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?!? I DON’T UNDERSTAND, WE WERE GOOD, WEREN’T WE?” 2-P cried out in despair, still attempting to pry the plate off his hand. 

“it wasn’t us, _we_ didn’t do anything wrong!” 1-S shouted back. “it was _him_! he _wanted_ to- to do this to us!” 

“MAYBE…” 2-P tried to reason, not wanting to believe that Gaster would’ve _wanted_ to hurt them. There was no way. Not the man who had taught them to walk, how to read, and how to speak. Not the man who had taken care of them since their conception, even if their lives had been relatively short. “MAYBE HE WAS WORRIED WE’D GET LOST, OR, OR, THEY’RE MAGIC, AND WILL PROTECT US FROM SOMETHING OR—“

“are you serious?!” 1-S snapped, in complete disbelief. “how could you even say that?!” How could his own sibling still have faith in the one who hurt him? How could he not share the same hatred for their tormenter that he did? “how long were you screaming while he drilled that into you?!” 

“MAYBE HE HAD TO DO IT THAT WAY!” 2-P argued back. 

“Did he? Came a quiet whisper from the corner. 

The two skeletons turned to their human sibling, who had finally stood up. She reached her hand into the particular spot in the corner she had seemed so found of. “Did he need to put these things on us? What purpose could they possibly serve? I could never know his intent, even when I checked his stats. All it said was ‘I am determined’. But what is he determined to do?” 

“torture us?!” 1-S theorized. “experiment on us!? i bet he wants to turn us into lab rats! or maybe he just wants to use us as his personal punching bags! he obviously doesn’t care about us!” 

“YES HE DOES! HE HAS TO!” 2-P screamed. “HE CARES FOR US! HE DOES!”

“no he doesn’t! aren’t his stats while torturing our human sibling proof enough?! he’s never cared! he’s never tried to hug or hold us! we’re just _things_ to him, he’s always said that!” 

“He does harbor emotions towards us,” 3-F corrected, her voice void of emotion, speaking as if she where in a daze. “I’m not sure what emotions they are, but he put them aside. He seems to have a goal, and he chose that over us,” 

1-S considered the human’s words enough proof that Gaster had no benevolent thoughts in mind when attaching the plates. “see! he doesn’t care about us! he just cares about his goal, or whatever he’s trying to get out of this! we’re just tools to him! he can do whatever he wants to us, and who’s going to stop him!? no one even know’s we’re down here, and it’s not like we can get out—“ 

The forbidding realization that _this_ wasn’t the only torment he would forced them through suddenly dawned on the little skeleton. Gaster didn’t have to be kind to them. Gaster wouldn’t be kind to him. He was powerless to protect his siblings from him. And it wasn’t like _they_ could fight him off either. Their only hope would be someone getting Gaster to stop, but there was nobody. 

Nobody was going to come for them. 

“god, oh my god!” 1-S started to panic. “what’s he going to do to us!? this is just the beginning isn’t it?!” 

2-P’s eyes widened, his body shaking, as his siblings word kicked the fear into him. 3-F didn’t seem surprised however. She had figured out that nobody was coming for them while the plate was being seared into her skin. She realized that there was nothing she could do when she touched her gold star, and pressed the glowing “save” button, foolishly thinking that would save them, only to get the horrible feeling that she had just made things worse by doing so. She just hadn’t wanted to tell her skeleton siblings what she realized, because she couldn’t stand the thought of them being more upset than they already where. 

“this isn’t going to stop, it’s just— it’s just going to get worse- oh god!” 1-S continued to rant. 

“NO NO NO! HE WON’T! HE WON’T! HE’S NOT LIKE THAT! HE’S NOT!” 2-P screamed, beginning to panic. His chest felt heavy, and his anxiety kept hitting his head like a hammer. “HE’S NOT GOING TO—“

“look at your hand, for god’s sake!!” 1-S screamed back, failing to notice the anxiety pouring off his sibling in waves. He wasn’t focused on that. He desperately _needed_ his brother to realize what was going on. “don’t you get what’s going on here?! don’t you get what we _are_ to him?!” There was no way; no way that 2-P could possibly still have _faith_ in Gaster after what he did to him. There was no way. 

“THAT’S NOT— THAT’S NOT WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN-, HE’S NOT GOING TO HURT US ANYMORE! 

“are you _joking_?!? what do you think just happened!! what on earth do you think is going to make him—“ 

“STOP!!!” 3-F suddenly shouted at the two of them. The two skeletons turned to look at their human sibling. She stood next to the wall, fist curled into a ball, her chest rising and falling from the large breath she had been forced to take. 

“Stop shouting! Stop arguing!” She demanded. “It hurts! It hurts when we yell at eachother! And we can’t hurt eachother,” She slid down the wall to her knees, crying. “We can’t hurt eachother! We can’t hurt eachother!” 

The two skeletons sat down either side of the human. 2-P immediately pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her hair. The brown threads where soft, and blocked out everything. It was always a place of comfort for her siblings. 1-S held her hand. 

“what are we going to do?” he sobbed. “what’s going to happen to us?” 

“I don’t know. But we can’t hurt eachother. If he continues to hurt us—“ 

“HE WON’T!” 2-P cried out. “HE’S NOT GOING TO HURT US ANYMORE, I KNOW IT! HE’S NOT A BAD PERSON!” 

1-S scoffed. “not a bad person, huh? all except for this!” 

“NO! HE’S NOT! HE TOOK CARE OF US! AND HE’S—”

“He’s not finished yet,” 3-F interrupted, calmly, but sadly, quiet sobs laced between her words. “Whatever his intentions are, this is not the final step.I hope whatever he does next will be painless, but I can’t be sure. I don’t know what’s going to happen!” 

“HE’LL STOP,” 2-P tried to assure, his voice shaking, as the panic continued to creep it’s way in. “HE’LL STOP! HE HAS TO! HE…,” 

And with that, the panic hit, and he started bawling, louder than before, his eyes glowing fiercely. His siblings wrapped the little boy into a close hug, both of their eyes glowing in response, as they whispered words of comfort to him, even though they where crying themselves. No matter how they had digested the situation; with anger, stubborn optimism, or analytical prediction, they couldn’t deny that it just _hurt_. 

The three subjects held onto eachother tightly, refusing to let go. 

After all, it was all they could do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, short chapter. 
> 
> Also, sorry


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time for Gaster to see if the human he created could really serve her purpose. Can 3-F pass through the barrier?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't do science test on your kids, peeps.

The preparations were nearly made. He had set up the machines which he would use to test the tools he made, and constructed a proper timeline in which to go about his experiments. 

But first, he needed to see if the human he created was enough to cross the barrier. That was, after all, the entire point of creating her, aside from curiosity as to how a human compared to a monster when it came to all the things he wanted to do. 

Gaster read and re-read his papers over and over again, making sure that everything was in proper order. He couldn’t risk accidentally killing any of his subjects, even the human, despite his distaste for the creatures he modeled her after. 

He often had to remind himself that she was human. It was the easiest way to distance himself from her. 

“why did you do that to them?” Gaster had almost forgotten that his oldest creation was with him in the room. He had been making the experiments fill out papers on logic and puzzles just to make sure the trauma of adding the plates didn’t effect their mental capacity or skill. It was interesting; they would still finish the papers with the previous amount of accuracy, but they seemed more unwilling to do the work. 1-S would always protest in anger and question everything Gaster had told him to do with a stubborn hatred, while 2-P seemed anxious anytime he sat him down to do the test. His shaking hands would make the writing nearly illegible, and the boy couldn’t go five seconds without apologizing for things. The human on the other hand, would simply refuse to do the work; sitting on her hands, staring at Gaster as if trying to read him. Her behavior was always strange, but even more so now. She did not act angry like 1-S, or heartbroken like 2-P, but instead put on a mask of calm when around him, and analyzed him, as if he where a puzzle she needed to solve. Gaster could only assume she was trying to understand him; understand why he did what he did. Perhaps she thought that if she could understand, she could properly convince him to stop. A logical solution; convincing him to stop would be her only hope of protecting herself and her fellow creations, as they couldn’t escape, and waiting for help wasn’t an option. The only flaw in her logic was assuming that she could even attempt to convince Gaster to dump his plans, or assuming that she could ever figure him out at all. She also didn’t know that Gaster could see right through her cold front; he knew that she was frustrated, heartbroken, and afraid, even if she didn’t look it. 

“they never did anything to you. they didn’t deserve that,” 1-S continued, peeking Gaster’s curiosity at the boys wording. “They”, as in 2-P and 3-F. A group that didn’t include him. 

“And you did?” the scientist questioned. “Does only their suffering matter to you? Interesting,” 

  
“why did you make us? why are you doing this to us?” 1-S demanded. “is someone _making_ you do this? is that it?” Maybe, just maybe, his skeletal sibling was right, and Gaster wasn’t a bad person. 1-S deemed this answer unlikely, but any information as to why all this was happening was something he wanted to have. “do you not have a choice?” 

Gaster looked like he was about to say something, when his phone suddenly rang. Some song with a high-pitched voice bit and Japanese characters making up the lyrics. “I thought I turned this off…” The scientist grumbled, answering the phone. He turned around, his attention drawn away from the young skeleton, as he talked to someone called “Dr. Alphys” about a meeting that he thought was tomorrow, but actually was today. 

1-S ran down the hallways, taking his memorized path towards his cell where his two siblings where being kept. All he had to do was get there. He would free his two siblings, and they all would run away from this place together. They would find someone to protect them, someplace to live, and be free. Never to hurt again. 

“sibs! sibs!” He called out to the two of them. The human and the taller skeleton where sitting on the floor of their cell, but where quick to stand up and run to the beams of the cell. 

“SMALLER SIBLING!” 2-P exclaimed, using the nickname the three had given eachother. (1-S was “smaller sibling”, 2-P was “bigger sibling”, and 3-F was “human sibling). “HOW DID YOU GET OUTSIDE?” 

“i snuck away while he wasn’t looking!” The young skeleton declared proudly, the excited look of his siblings warming his heart. “i’m gonna get you guys out, okay, then we’re gonna get out of here!” 

“OH, YAY! BUT… HOW?” 

“um… i’m still working on that part,” 

“The pad,” The human said quietly. “Gaster always touches the pad,”’ 

“YEAH,” 2-P continued “HE TOUCHES IT AND THEN THE BEAMS GO AWAY! MAYBE PUT YOUR HAND ON IT,” 

“ok…” he reached up on his toes and placed his hand on the pad. One of the three blue lights started glowing, but it did nothing else. 

“it’s not working, only one of the lights went on!” 1-S groaned in frustration. 

“TRY USING TWO HANDS!” 2-P suggested. 

“he only uses one though,” 

“WELL, HIS HANDS ARE BIG. YOU HAVE LITTLE BABY HANDS,” 2-P offered up as the reason, much to the dismay of the shorter skeleton. 

“i do not have baby hands!” He declared. The human giggling at her siblings shenanigans did nothing to boost his confidence. 

“YOU HAVE THE MOST ITTY BITTY HANDS, SMALLER SIBLING,” 2-P continued, making 3-F howl with laughter. “LIKE TINY LITTLE—“ 2-P stopped, and his eyes started glowing purple in fear as he let out a scream. 

“Behind you!” 3-F tried to warn him, but it was already to late. His soul had already lit up with blue magic, as the little skeleton was lifted off the ground and away from the pad. His eyes turned purple as the realization that he wouldn’t be freeing his siblings his him like a truck. 

Gaster was right besides him. 

“Apparently I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on you. You’re slipperier than I thought,” Gaster taunted, a hint of frustration in his face, but nothing in his voice but amusement. He was almost impressed with his subjects effort, even though it was annoying. 

“no no!” 1-S cried out, reaching for the pad, even though he could never touch it from where he was being held. “i was so close!” 

There was a pregnant moment of silence, as Gaster continued to grip onto the squirming boy in mid-air, while 2-P gripped the human tightly out of fear. “ARE…. ARE WE IN TROUBLE?” He asked, hesitantly. 

Gaster took a moment to decide. “Yes.” 

All three subjects shuttered at his words. “Under other circumstances, it’d be sufficient to punish only you, Subject 1, but your frailty makes it difficult, so…” 

Gaster opened the door to the cage, watching the human and taller skeleton’s faces twisting into a look of fear and despair. They knew what was going to come next. “You ALL will be coming with me,” 

He lead them out. 

“no!” 1-S screamed. “don’t hurt them!! they didn’t even do anything! they didn’t DO ANYTHING!” 

Tears dripped down from his eye sockets as Gaster held the boy close, so that the two where face to face. “Think about that the next time you run from me,” He whispered, so that only 1-S would hear it. 

“Come on,” he told the other two, leading them to the room where he would inflict a proper amount of pain to teach them for their wrongdoings. 

1-S watched as both 2-P and 3-F had their fingers broken, and kneecaps shattered. He watched as his precious siblings howled in despair and pain, causing the two to loose HP. They where given healing food soon after the punishment to heal the injuries, but that didn’t erase the expressions on their faces from 1-S’s mind, and the knowledge that it was his fault they where forced to feel that way. 

~~  


It had been two hours, and Gaster had yet to return with the human. The skeletons where getting anxious. He didn’t tell them what he had planned on doing with her. He didn’t tell them where he was taking her, or if he had planned to be back. They where terrified. 

3-F had walked with Gaster through a room full of gold-colored flowers. It was a beautiful place, unlike anything she had seen. He had spent the last few hours taking her through many dark rooms she had never seen before, leaving her in them as he would frequently enter and exit, only to grab her and drag her to the next room. This was the first place she had seen that wasn’t pitch black. 

She had stopped, and bent down, touching one of the flowers. The peddles were silky and smooth, and they smelled beautiful. The room was full of warm light, and the sound of bird chirps could be heard. 

3-F had never felt more at peace. 

“Frisk,” She heard a voice say, snapping her out of the trance she was in. She looked around, wondering who said that. What was that word? Why did it sound like… a name?

She forgot what the word was as soon as she heard it. 

“Subject 3, let’s go,” Gaster demanded. 

The human’s face fell. She didn’t want to leave the flower room. She had yet to explore all of it. She hadn’t compared the texture of the leaves to the texture of the peddles. She hadn’t touched the walls, or pressed her face into the velvet cushion that sat on the large gold chair in the center of the room. She wanted to touch that white sheet in the room corner, and see what was underneath it, giving it such a unique shape. She wanted to see how many flowers she could hold in their arms, and bathe in their wonderful smell for hours on end. There where so many things for her to see, smell, hear, feel, and taste. 

Taste…

She had learned from her experience of tasting things that it wasn’t always a good idea to put something in her mouth. But right now, she didn’t care. She needed to taste those golden flowers. And even if they killed her… well, she didn’t really know if she cared at the moment. If being dead meant she got to stay in this room forever, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

She put the golden flower into her mouth. 

Gaster instantly smacked her head, causing her mouth to gape, allowing him to pull the flower out. 

“Don’t. Eat. That.” He snapped. 

“Why?” 3-F questioned. “Will I die? Will you be unable to achieve your goal if I die?” The hand plates had been applied two weeks ago, and every time she watched her smaller sibling mouth off to their creator like she was doing she always felt a sense of dread. She was sure he wouldn’t cause them pain without a purpose, but if she was wrong about Gaster, and he was just doing this for kicks, then mouthing off would be the worst idea. But her siblings were not around to get hurt if she mouthed off right now. So mouth off she would do. Maybe he’d finally loose it, and kill her, causing enough of a scene that someone would figure out what he did. If she got him angry enough that he’d be ok letting her blood splatter against every flower in this room, someone would find out, and maybe save her siblings. 

It was a foolish plan, and the human knew it wouldn’t work. She’d be sent on her way to do whatever Gaster wanted her to do, then sent back to her siblings, and they’d be stuck as they where before. But it didn’t hurt to try things, did it?

Gaster grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the room. “Those are buttercups. They are _extremely poisonous,_ and will kill you _slowly and painfully_ if you consume them,” 

They left the flower room, just to end up in yet another dark room. 3-F let out a sigh, disappointed. It was likely that she would never see those flowers again. But at least she knew their name. Buttercups. The golden flowers where called Buttercups. 

The door to the next room had a gold star next to it, which delighted the young human. She quickly ran over to it and touched the star, as she always would with same little light in the corner of her room in the lab. But the location on the description box looked different. Back at the lab, the label would read “your room”. Here, it said “the end”. 3-F wasn’t sure she liked this. 

“Come along,” Gaster demanded. “We don’t have all day,” 

The two of them entered a bright room. It was entirely white, with a hall that seemed to be infinite. Gaster stepped to the end of the room, toughing the wall. An invisible barrier stood in the way of everything. 

“This is the barrier,” Gaster explained to his human creation. “This is what keeps monsters here, trapped underground. This is the reason I created you, human,” 

He reached out his hand for her, and after some hesitation and confusion, she grabbed it. Gaster ignored the warm sparks her touch sent into his nervous system. “It takes one monster soul, and one human soul, to enter the barrier. We should be able to leave, and reach the surface. If this place recognizes your soul as human, then your purpose would be forfilled,” 

He walked forwards, pulling his human creation along with him. She was filled with a strange sense of dread, as the two of them walked though the barrier. 

The moment she entered the white fog, a bolt of pain hit 3-F, shaking her to her very soul. Her body burned in agony as she fell to the floor, twisting and wriggling. She couldn’t see Gaster, or hear him. She couldn’t see anything. She felt her senses fade, as the white in the room seemed to become brighter and brighter. Pain coursed through her. She felt as if she where melting; like her skin was boiling and she was turning to liquid. But she couldn’t even see her own body. 

Then it stoped. She heard the sound of something breaking, as red shards of something sped past her vision And everything was black. 

The human tried to breath, but found her lungs where not taking any air. Strangely enough, this didn’t feel painful. There wasn’t anything to feel. She was just there, floating in a black abyss, the only sound reaching her ears was a faint music. She knew exactly where she was, and what had happened. 

She was dead. 

This was fine. It was peaceful. She was ok with dead. 

There was a voice calling to her. A deep, almost fatherly voice, telling her to “stay determined,” He was calling her millions of names at once; none of which she recognized. Some of the things he called her was just plain ridiculous, like “Raddish”, or “Shuman”, or “Blurb”. She was floating away from the voice. Everything was getting quieter; the voice, the music. It all began to fade away, as she fell deeper into her death. 

She was heading towards a bright, white light. Maybe she would land in some sort of heaven. Away from the pain, away from the suffering, away from the metal plate seared into her hand. Maybe she could be her own person in this heaven, instead of WDG3-F, the test subject; the experiment. 

She only wished that she could be with her brothers. 

They wouldn’t be there. They would still be here, suffering. She wouldn’t get to see them, help them, or protect them. She’d be gone, but they wouldn’t. This knowledge left her with a bitter fear. She couldn’t leave them! She just couldn’t!

She couldn’t die. She didn’t want to. Dying was not an option. 

Her body began to glow red, and the white light changed to yellow. 

~~

“Come along,” Gaster demanded. “We don’t have all day,” 

The human blinked. Once, twice, three times. Did all of that really happen? Was that just a dream? She was dead, wasn’t she? She died. But now, she was here. 

As Gaster walked into the room that held the barrier, he was struck with a strange feeling of deja-vu, but he brushed it off. 

The human was, once again, in the bright room, with an infinite white hall that stretched out in front of them. Gaster, once again, placed his hand on the invisible wall, serving as the stoping point. 

“This is the barrier,” Gaster said. “This is what keeps monsters here, trapped underground. This is the reason I created you, human,” 

It was the same thing he had said before. Was repeating the moment? 3-F didn’t even know if the death she had been through was anything more than some elaborate dream. Maybe she spaced out for too long. But it felt plenty real to her. And she was scared.

Gaster once again, reached out his hand for her to grab, and she took it, without any hesitation this time, as she knew what to do. Gaster ignored the warm sparks her touch sent into his nervous system, as he had before. Why did he feel as if this wasn’t the first time he’s done this. “It takes one monster soul, and one human soul, to enter the barrier. We should be able to leave, and reach the surface. If this place recognizes your soul as human, —“ 

“Then my purpose would have been served, I know,” 3-F finished the sentence for him. Gaster quirked an eyebrow. He wanted to assume that the human was simply mouthing off, but there was something so incredibly odd about how she said exactly what he was about to say. 

It didn’t matter. 

Gaster walked through the barrier, pulling the human along with him. The moment she entered the fog, the same thing happened again. She fell to theground in pain, as her skin felt like it was melting, and her ears and eyes seemed to turn off, hearing nothing, and seeing nothing but white. The pain was unbearable, but familiar. It was the same thing she felt before. So her death wasn’t a dream. She was really reliving the moment she died. She had done this before. It was the same. 

Then the pain stopped, she heard the sound of shattering and saw the red pieces once again, and everything was black. She could only assume that the sound of the thing shattering was her soul falling apart; a signal of her death. 

The faint music and the fatherly voice could be heard once again, as 3-F slowly floated towards the white light. 

She wasn’t planning on giving up just yet. She was still determined to get back to her brothers. 

The white light turned yellow, and she was back at her star in the dark room, before the entrance to the barrier, with Gaster once again telling her to hurry up and enter the room. 

It happened twice. That confirmed it. She would die when she entered the barrier, and come back to life at an earlier point in time; the time she touched the star. 

“I can’t go through the barrier,” She said to Gaster. He quirked an eyebrow. How did she know what was in the next room? 

“Excuse me?” Gaster asked. 

“If I go through the barrier, I’ll die,” She explained. 

Gaster paused for a second, wondering. The legends about determined souls entered his mind, but he decided it’d be best he ignored them. “Oh really,” He said. “That’s ridiculous, come with me,” 

He felt a sense of deja-vu as he entered the room again, but once again ignored it. 

“This is the barrier,” He began explaining. 

“I know,” 3-F interrupted. “It keeps monsters down here, and you think it would let my human soul past,” 

Gaster frowned. 

“But it won’t work,” 3-F insisted. “It will kill me! I can’t go through, I’ll die!” She was beginning to sound desperate. But she was scared that she would have to go in a third time, and feel the pain all over again. 

What if this was a never-ending cycle, and she’d be forced to enter the barrier again, and again, and again? What would she do then? Die a million times over? How would she ever get back to 1-S and 2-P. They where her siblings, and she had to protect them. She had to get back to them. She just had to! 

“Nonsense,” Gaster grabbed her hand, feeling not only the sparks but deja-vu as well. What if the human was right? “Come now, lets go,” 

He dragged her in, again. She felt the pain, again. She died, again. 

The faint music was beginning to sound annoying, as was the fatherly voice. She floated towards the white light, and it turned yellow as her body glowed red. She would survive this! She didn’t know how, but she had to. That was all she knew. 

She was at the gold star again. 

Gaster was telling her to come along again. 

“No,” 3-F stated, stubbornly standing near her star. She was not going to move. 

“No?” Gaster questioned. 

“If I try to cross the barrier, I’ll die!” She told him, trying to keep from screaming. She didn’t want to go through that again. 

“That’s ridiculous,” Gaster said. “Now come on,” 

He entered the room, feeling the deja-vu once again. _Why do I feel like I’ve already entered this room?_ He asked himself. 3-F didn’t follow him. 

“Get in here,” He demanded of her. 

“No! I’m not going to die again!” She refused. 

The scientist grumbled and rolled his eyes, stepping outside the room with a growl, picking up the human with blue magic, and carrying her into the room with him. 

“NO!” The human screamed. “NO! PLEASE NO! I DON’T WANT TO DIE AGAIN!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE AGAIN!!!” 

“Stop screaming!” Gaster demanded, scared that she was going to attract attention. He chose this day to test her out because nobody would be coming by these rooms to see the human, but that didn’t mean her yelling was going to go unheard. She screamed and cried, as he grabbed her body, feeling like he had already done this, and walked into the barrier. 

She died again. 

~~

When 3-F woke up again next to her star, she started crying loudly. 

“What the hell?” Gaster snapped. “Stop crying, we’ve got work to do!” 

“I don’t wanna die again!” She screeched. 

“Stop playing games!” He snapped, lifting her up with blue magic as she continued to shriek. 

The deja-vu was impossible to ignore. Gaster had definitely done this already, he was sure of it. There where legions of how the human souls with Determination, when exposed to monster magic, gained the ability to turn back the clock, and control time. Maybe even avoid death by doing so. Was this the reason his human was crying? Had he entered the barrier before, only for something bad to happen to her? And what could’ve possibly have happened? 

There was only one way to find out. He entered the barrier, 3-F in tow, and she died once again. 

~~

This was the sixth time she woke up next to the star. She had died six times. She had come back to this point six times. 

“Come along, we don’t have all day,” Gaster once again said to her. 

3-F started crying again, quietly this time. She fell to the wall and slid down, curling into a ball, and sobbing. 

Gaster suppressed a groan. He guessed she was going to be difficult about this. 

“I died six times,” She sobbed. “The barrier killed me,” 

The scientist quirked an eyebrow at this. His initial instinct was to blow it off as ridiculous and force the human through the barrier one way or another, but something told him he’s been told this before. Something told him that she was right. 

“The barrier killed you?” Gaster asked. “Really?” 

“I-I’m not lying!” 3-F cried out in between sobs. “It really did k-kill me! I-I came back somehow, b-but… it really, really hurt!” 

Gaster lifted her up with blue magic and took her into the room, towards the barrier, the feeling growing stronger. Yes, he had definitely done this before. No doubt about that. He was positive that this human was not lying. 

He looked at her to observe her reaction to entering the room. She simply went limp, looking like a rag doll held in mid-air, whispering a quiet “no”, but other than that, seemed to resign to her fate. 

She didn’t work as a tool to break the barrier. That was frustrating. But Gaster had figured out something entirely new and strange about her, and he was eager to learn of everything she was capable of. 

This experiment was going to be very, very interesting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the answer to the question "can Frisk pass the barrier"

**Author's Note:**

> A question you may have is; could Gaster use Frisk, a human soul, to break down the barrier? The short answer is, it will be explained in due time. Until then, just leave a review and a kudo and all that good shit if you liked the story. 
> 
> ~MotherUniverse signing out!


End file.
